Too Much At Stake

By: Pat Ondarko and Deb Lewis
Publisher: Langdon Street Press
Publication Date: June 2010
ISBN: 978-1936183586
Reviewed by: Ellen Feld
Review Date: July 2010

Attention circus fans! And fans of ‘cozy’ mysteries! There’s been a murder at the ‘Big Top’ and with the help of best friends Pat and Deb, we need to find out who-dun-it!

The second book in the ‘Best Friends Series,’ Too Much At Stake, opens with amateur sleuths Deb Lindberg and Pat Kerry volunteering, like so many of the local residents, to help set up the Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua tent. The ‘Big Top’ stays up all summer, bringing tourists and revenue to the area.

Pat and Deb are asked to help unroll one of the big canvases and it’s so heavy that it feels as though there’s a body wrapped within it. Surprise! There is a body inside the canvas! But who is it?

Pat and Deb are told by the local authorities, “You and your friend have the strangest habit of showing up around dead bodies. And just to be clear…you will not try solving this one, right?” (pg. 15) But, in a small town, where everybody knows everybody’s business, it’s just too hard for Pat and Deb to stay away from the investigation.

Once the identity of the murder victim has been revealed (and I’m not going to give that away!), the suspects are plentiful. The authors keep the reader guessing, right along with Deb and Pat. Just when you think you have the mystery solved, the authors throw another curve your way.

Too Much At Stake delivers exactly what a ‘cozy’ mystery should. It’s fun, lighthearted and keeps you guessing. You’ll look forward to joining Deb and Pat at the Black Cat Coffeehouse as they flush out the possible suspects and try and solve the crime.

Quill says: Join Deb, Pat, and the folks on the south shore of Lake Superior as another murder mystery unfolds.