FMAM MOSTLY MYSTERY REVIEWS
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January 2010
Dead Air: A Talk Radio Mystery
Mary Kennedy
Penguin Obsidian, January 5, 2010, $6.99, 320 pages
ISBN: 13-978-0451228772
Psychologist Maggie Walsh packs up her bags and moves to Florida to take the position of radio “shrink” for station WYME. “On the Couch with Maggie Walsh” is a success although she has her share of odd callers including one who tells her to check her mail. When her producer Vera checks for his envelope and opens it, she finds a death threat. As if on cue there is a loud bang and smoke pours out. Everyone evacuates the station sure a bomb has gone off. It turns out that the station’s receptionist was making popcorn in the microwave and did not know not to put a metal plate in the unit. Working the fire is Detective Rafe Martino and immediately butts heads with Maggie when she attempts to reenter the station to stop the continuous playing of a Celine Dion song. A few additional sparks fly.
Business goes on and Maggie continues with her callers when a guest is foisted upon her by her boss. Guru Sanjay Gingii a self proclaimed guru an author mesmerizes most of her audience. Maggie finds him to be smarmy and probably a sociopath. He travels to towns holding self help seminars and her listeners seem to be eating it up. But someone has sent him a death threat at Maggie’s radio station.
Lark, Maggie’s roommate is dying to see the Guru. Maggie is invited to an evening event with him and as she has no intention of going so she gives Lark the invite. Early the next morning her boss wakes her up asking her to deliver the morning news. She can barely understand him but eventually learns that the Guru was murdered in the night. And before she can leave for the station, Detective Rafe and his partner are there to question Lark. And Rafe has the nerve to threaten Maggie with accessory after the fact. Maggie feels she must fight this for her own protections and for Lark who seems to be their prime suspect. As she begins to investigate the Guru’s murder, she finds that life isn’t rosy in the seminar camp and there are many who were not happy with the Guru and are much happier now that he is dead. And the Guru wasn’t who he pretended to be.
Who was the Guru? Who killed the Guru? Which man will win Maggie’s heart – the sexy and sometimes irritating Detective Martino or the sexy and very rich hotel owner who is head over heels for her? And is Lark telling the truth when she says she did not murder the Guru? Well, you’ll have to read DEAD AIR for yourself to get the answers and it will be worth the read! DEAD AIR is a charming, fast paced, easy read. Mary Kennedy writes in a witty repartee that keeps you engaged with the characters. The secondary characters that phone into her show are fun, amusing, and keep the humor going. The main characters guide us through a murder investigation such that we feel like we are there with them. We are Maggie. Mary Kennedy has a hit with the character Maggie Walsh. I look forward to more in the series. An excellent cozy!
On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 5!
Cynthia Lea Clark, Psy.D., MHt
Girl with Skirt of Stars
Jennifer Kitchell
Pronghorn Press
$19.95, 348 pp.,
ISBN: 978-1932636567
Lilli Chischilly is a Navajo lawyer working for the Navajo Nation’s Historic Preservation Department, trying to walk a fine line between the interests of her Navajo people and the pressures of the white man’s world. I’m not sure I would call this a mystery-there is a very peripheral subplot involving a murdered man, but the bulk of the book revolves around a smarmy presidential candidate, a whitewater adventure down the Grand Canyon, and a plot to kill said smarmy presidential candidate. All of this is complicated by the return of her childhood friend Jerome, who she hasn’t seen in many years, but for whom she still has strong feelings.
Kitchell’s novel is more notable for the interwoven historical events (most notably the Mountain Meadows Massacre, which I had never heard of before), her awesome descriptions of the Grand Canyon and the area in general, and her insight into the Navajo culture and language.
All in all, notwithstanding a fairly implausible plot and weak character development, Girl with Skirt of Stars is worth reading for a glimpse into Navajo culture and history, and the vivid descriptions of the area. A decent debut effort by Kitchell.
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