Caught in the Snare

A Chautauqua Murder Mystery

By: Deb Pines

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Caught in the Snare is the eleventh book in Deb Pines' traditional whodunit Chautauqua Mysteries featuring the wise and witty reporter sleuth of a certain age Mimi Goldman.

"An Agatha Christie for the text-message age," IndieReader calls the series.

When Velma White, a tyrannical landlady, now 74 and shaky on her feet, is found dead at the bottom of the steep, slippery stairs of her Chautauqua home, it looks like an accident.

But was it?

Velma lived in a "house of vipers," says her best friend. Among them: a cash-strapped daughter, a shady teacher, a bullied home health aide and a bird lover whose feathers Velma ruffled.

Reporter and relentless snoop Mimi Goldman, luckily, is on the case. Aided by sidekick Sylvia and Sylvia’s granddog Gerard, they dig into Velma's money, men and murky past to try to find a killer lurking among Chautauqua’s high-minded lectures and historic cottages — before they, too, get Caught in the Snare.

Fans of Agatha Christie, Louise Penny, Elly Griffiths, Richard Osman and “Only Murders in the Building” will enjoy the latest twist-filled mystery in this popular series.

Hard to stick with it

I tried but the story is way too long, often a laundry list of characters, motives and devices that are quite two.dimensional.

It doesn’t help test the AI narrative is void of emotion and nuances.

The story doesn’t engage and the crime isn’t very interesting to me.

I’ll skip more of these