A Dewey Decimal Dilemma

Linda Pirtle began writing mystery novels on a dare. And it’s a good thing for mystery readers that she took that dare.

And it’s a good thing she’s part of the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series.

A Dewey Decimal Dilemma is Book 7 in the series — and it’s another winner. It’s on pre-order at Amazon.

I don’t know what it is about this series, but each of the authors has given us a book that is at the top of his or her game.

Don’t get me wrong: all of the writers in the series are top drawer. But there is something about the dynamic in this project that has brought out the best of the best. The synergy of working together has produced stellar results.

And A Dewey Decimal Dilemma is no exception.

I’m putting this down on the table: I don’t care overly much for the current-day cozy mystery. Generally speaking, there’s too much ChickLit in the books for my liking. And I find the world of ChickLit about as inviting as being stranded at the South Pole without boots or parka.

But in A Dewey Decimal Dilemma Linda Pirtle has given us a cozy mystery that is contemporary, yet harkens back to the Golden Age of the murder mystery.

To my mind, Mrs. Pirtle has given us an amateur sleuth mystery that is as enjoyable for men as it is for women, even though the sleuth is female — and that is quite an accomplishment.

The main character, our sleuth, is Caroline McCluskey. A widow, she’s the head librarian of Magnolia Bluff’s library. There’s a bit of romance in the story, but it isn’t cloying. Nor is there an unnecessary preoccupation with her job.

Instead, we see Caroline as a person who gets tangled up in a murder investigation. She is someone not unlike ourselves.

The storyline focuses on the murder and it does so in classic fashion. Giving us a twisting, turning viper of a story.

The writing itself is taut. Nothing frilly, flowery, or extraneous; yet, we also get a picture of Magnolia Bluff and the people who live there that is both colorful and that reveals new dimensions about some of them. What I like to call value-added writing.

A Dewey Decimal Dilemma sits squarely in the tradition of the mystery genre’s Golden Age. Yet, it is a contemporary story with a modern woman as the sleuth. And all the while Mrs. Pirtle avoids the billowing methane vapors of ChickLit, so a guy can enjoy the story.

A Dewey Decimal Dilemma launches October 20th. Don’t miss this one. It’s a winner. And you can pre-order it on Amazon.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright, award-winning poet, and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

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