Asking For Murder
Roberta Isleib
Reviewed by Hank Phillippi Ryan
An endearing and intelligent heroine. An original plot. A surprising ending. Red herrings galore. (And I fell for every one of them.) All in all, Roberta Iselib has concocted a completely satisfying mystery. It’s delicious, and not only because of the tantalizing recipes included. (I’m still thinking about chicken chili.) ASKING FOR MURDER is maybe the best ever from an author who only gets better.
Dr. Rebecca Butterman—so genuinely realistic she could easily be your best friend—is more focused on cuisine than crime as she arrives to meet a fellow psychotherapist for lunch. Her pal, Dr. Annabelle Hart, is a sand play therapist—a specialty that allows patients to create tableaux in sand trays using figurines. Annabelle insists—but Rebecca is not so sure—the staging of pretend dramas in the sand can lead to breakthroughs in patient problems.
But the problem now—Annabelle doesn’t answer the door of her office. And Rebecca eventually finds her friend horribly beaten and left for dead. Annabelle’s lucky they had a lunch date or it would have been too late.
Annabelle is rushed to the hospital, her survival uncertain. Cops think it’s a botched robbery. Or maybe her too-handsome contractor. The caring and reliable Dr. Butterman assures her pal—though she’s in a coma and can’t hear her—that she’ll take over her patient list. Could there be clues among the clients? And suddenly nowhere is safe: not the hospital, not Annabelle’s office, and not even Dr. Butterman’s own home. Though the danger there—in one hilarious scene—comes from mixing psychology, the best intentions, and a few too many Bloody Marys.
As the carefully written and always compelling story unfolds, complete with two, maybe three! love interests, and a few more surprising murders, Rebecca tracks down a host of originally drawn characters. Then, as the mystery deepens, the reader begins to realize that the book is deepening, too. Offering more than just a clever and original puzzle, ASKING FOR MURDER explores the psychology of behavior, and even murder, with a deft touch. Dr. Butterman moonlights as an advice columnist, and Isleib cleverly uses the columns to help Rebecca sort out her own dilemmas. Isleib’s skill and knowledge of hospitals, law enforcement and psychotherapy, her wonderful sense of self-deprecating humor, and her effortless writing shine thoughout.
And in a charming and touching conclusion, Dr. Butterman winds up using her training and instinct not only to help others, but also herself.
Readers—and writers—often struggle with the unlikelihood of a non-law enforcement type stumbling onto a murder, and even more unlikely, working to solve it. But author Isleib, perhaps because of her own training as a clinical psychologist, puts her character seamlessly and believably into this investigation. We should all have a friend as loyal and devoted as Dr. Butterman. ASKING FOR MURDER is a great place to meet her.
(ASKING FOR MURDER is the third in the Dr. Rebecca Butterman series, though they all read as standalones.)
About the Reviewer:
Award-winning investigative reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan is currently on the air at Boston's NBC affiliate, where she's broken big stories for the past 24 years. Her stories have resulted in new laws, people sent to prison, homes removed from foreclosure, and millions of dollars in refunds and restitution for consumers.
Along with her 26 EMMYs, Hank’s won also won dozens of other journalism honors. She's been a legislative aide in the United States Senate (working on the Freedom of Information Act) and at Rolling Stone Magazine (working with Hunter S. Thompson).
Her first mysteries, PRIME TIME(winner of the Agatha Award for Best First Novel of 2007, and a double RITA nominee for Best First Book and Best Romantic Suspense, a DAPHNE nominee and a 2007 Reviewers' Choice Award Winner) and FACE TIME (Book Sense Notable Book), were best sellers. They'll both be re-issued in 2009 as MIRA Books. The next in the Charlotte McNally Mysteries, AIR TIME and DRIVE TIME, are also coming soon from MIRA Books.
Please visit her website at www.hankphillippiryan.com
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