Review - The Wolfe Widow

I have been following and reviewing the Book Collector Mystery Series since it began. 1st book was The Christie Curse (click here), 2nd entry was The Sayers Swindle (click here), we were honored to get a great author interview (click here), and recently a guest post (click here.)  Now for the new book in the series.

Author: Victoria Abbott

Copyright: Sept 2014 (Berkley) 304 pgs

Series: 3rd in Book Collector Mystery series

Sensuality: N/A

Mystery Sub-genre: Cozy Mystery

Main Characters: Jordan Bingham, works for Van Alst estate managing the book collection

Setting: Modern day, Harrison Falls NY

Obtained Through: Publisher for honest review

Jordan loves her job managing the rare book collection the Vera Van Alst's estate, so she is flabbergasted when she is suddenly fired one morning and all her meager belongings packed up and out in just a few hours.  She doesn't know what happened, but she is sure it has to do with the mysterious appearance of Muriel Delgado the night before.  Jordan is even banned from communicating with her own Uncle who still works at the estate.  Muriel is systematically getting rid of any support system that Vera has, and begins selling her books, even getting rid of her cats.  Jordan begins to investigate Muriel, and that is when things get dangerous.  Jordan's usual sidekicks for investigating are all unavailable, so she enlists a new cohort. 

Jordan is a contradiction, she is proud to be the family member who is on the legal side, yet she whips together a disguise and uses her lock picks. Jordan is also loyal and compassionate and can't stand that grumpy Vera may be in danger.  Uncle Kevin seems over-the-top in his practically ADD persona. Signora Panetone needs more dimension than just pushing food and hopping around, it is time she develop more.  Cherie, the cable service installer and electronics wizard becomes Jordan's new cohort since Uncles Mick and Lucky, Officer Tyler Dekker, Librarian Lance DeWitt, and BFF Tiffany are all unavailable.  Cherie is a great unexpected character that I hope to see in future books.  For the record, I still like the librarian better than the cop for a boyfriend, just saying.

Harrison Falls is a little nebulous in its size and character, but the pervasive dislike of all things Van Alst because of the shoe factory closing is used to good effective.  The story moved along steadily, but a murder doesn't occur until late in the book although Jordan is in serious danger fairly early.  The plot had surprises in it and a twist at the end that was nicely done and the killer confrontation was pretty tense while incorporating a classic round up of the suspects. 

This is another great addition to the Book Collector series and Jordan faces danger and difficulties with resilience and Vera must face secrets from her own past. 

Ratings: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now and put this author on your watch list