Dove in the Window (Benni Harper Mystery)
A fifth go-around for Benni Harper (Goose in the Pond, 1997, not reviewed, etc.), the ranch-bred widow of Jack Harper, whos now married to San Celica, California, Police Chief Gabe Ortiz. San Celica is having a Heritage Days celebration, and Benni, as curator of the Folk Arts Museum and Artists Co-op, is in the thick of it. Her elegant southern cousin Emory Littleton (with a mega-crush on Bennis best friend Elvia Aragon) is staying with her, and at her fathers ranch, presided over by Grandmother Dove, a huge family gathering is in progress. Disaster strikes when talented young photographer Shelby Johnson is found dead one early morningmurder or accident? Ranch-hand Kip Waterman and hard-drinking Wade Harper, brother of Bennis late husband, had come to blows over Shelby the night before. Matters worsen when, days latter, Kips drowned body is discovered behind the Frio Saloon. Through it all, Benni has to calm her artist friends Olivia Contreras and Greer Shannon, deal with a zillion chores, and cope with the unexpected presence of renowned photographer Isaac Lyons, Shelbys stepgrandfather, who seems smitten with Grandma Dove. In the end, its Bennis investigative collaboration with Isaac (over Gabes strong objections) that brings a killer to a kind of justice. The quest for whodunit is all but buried under Bennis breezy down-home chatter, sometimes mawkish soul-searching, and descriptions of the celebrations endless eventsfrom the local gallerys show of women artists to the Cow-Plop contest. But Bennis warmly likable persona makes it all worthwhileespecially for lovers of the cozy genre.  --Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.