Fool's Puzzle (Benni Harper Series #1)

by Earlene Fowler

Overview

Leaving behind memories of her late husband, Benni Harper is making a fresh start...Moving to the trendy California town of San Celina, she takes an exciting new job as director of a folk-art museum. While setting up an exhibit of handmade quilts, she stumbles upon the body of a brutally stabbed artist. Hoping to conduct an investigation on her own, she crosses paths with the local police chief, who thinks this short and sassy cowgirl should leave detecting to the cops and join him for dinner. But it's hard to keep a country girl down, and soon Benni uncovers an alarming pattern of family secrets, small-town lies--and the shocking truth about the night her husband died...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101500231
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/01/1995
Series:	Benni Harper Series , #1
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	366 KB

About the Author

Earlene Fowler was raised in La Puente, California, by a Southern mother and a Western father. She lives in Southern California with her husband, Allen, a large number of quilts, and twenty pairs of cowboy boots.

What People are Saying About This

Eve K. Sandstrom

"I thoroughly enjoyed Fool's Puzzle...Fowler's characters are terrific...a super job."

Noreen Ayres

"In a single brushfill, Fowler captures people we know, the good, the bad, the bizarre, while keeping us on the edge of our seats..."

Margaret Maron

"I loved Fool's Puzzle. Earlene Fowler is one of the freshest voices to come along this year."

Editorial Reviews

Young, recently widowed Benni Harper, the foolhardy heroine in this predictable debut, leaves her ranch after her husband's accidental death and becomes the curator of the folk-art museum in the coastal California town of San Celina. Benni is frantically trying to assemble a quilt show when she discovers a local potter stabbed to death in the museum studio. Benni's flaky 21-year-old cousin Rita, whom Benni had seen driving away from the museum, disappears and becomes a prime suspect. When Rita calls asking for money, Benni determines not to tell the police, whose new chief, Gabe Ortiz, has warned her not to interfere in the investigation, and decides to clear Rita by finding the real murderer. The day that the quilt show opens, Benni finds a plastic bag filled with money in the attic of the museum but waits to tell Ortiz until after the opening party. When he goes to the attic to investigate, he finds, instead, the body of the museum handyman. Fowler connects all the deaths in her plot, leaving no threads hanging, but Benni's reckless actions and her love-hate relationship with the enigmatic Ortiz yield an unconvincing narrative. Mystery Guild alternate. (May)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Albenia ``Benni'' Harper, a youthful widow, serves as curator of an impecunious folk-art museum in San Celina, California. Just as the deadline for a quilting exhibit arrives, she spots her cousin fleeing from the scene of a murder. Hastening to clear her cousin's name, Benni stays one jump ahead of police, at the same time learning disturbing facts about her husband's death. Hectic action (mostly driving hither and yon) and dialog accompany the amateur sleuth, who actually reads a how-to-be-a-p.i. book for assistance. The start of a promising new series.

Library Journal

Benni Harper debuts in Fowler's neat little mystery set in the central California community of San Celina. Benni, a recently widowed rancher's wife, now serves as curator for the town's folk-art museum and overseer of the attached artists' cooperative. Just before discovering the body of one of the local artists the night before the museum's quilt exhibit is to open, Benni sees her own cousin leaving the scene. Despite the warnings of the local chief of police, Benni cannot help probing into the situation, especially when it seems that the murder in some way is connected to her own husband's accidental death some months before. Fowler depicts a small ranching community and its struggling ranchers with conviction, and her plot is compelling. Her character development could use some work--the subplot about the attraction between Benni and the local police officer comes dangerously close to cliche. All in all, though, this is a very promising first novel, presumably the first in a series. Keep a lookout for the next one.

Stuart Miller