I have been waiting a very long time for Barrie Summy's I So Don't
Do Mysteries, ever since I found Barrie in the blogosphere and
started hearing about the book. Then, finally, finally, I got my
copy for Christmas. Yesterday, I cracked the cover.
(By the way, I LOVED finding out what was behind the beautiful blue
cover: no spoiler here, though!)
You know, we all know, that there's pressure when you meet someone
online, blog back & forth, share memes and THEN read their
book. So, yes, it was with a bit of trepidation that I started
reading Page 1.
By Page 2, I was laughing. And I pretty much didn't stop until I
reached the end. Barrie has given her MC, Sherry (Sherlock Holmes)
Baldwin, a light fun voice and she (the author or the character,
you decide) is the mistress of the LOL one-liner. Even when I
wasn't laughing, I was smiling. Sherry's energy is contagious, and
rooting for her was a delight.
Sherry's police-officer mother has been dead just over a year, so
imagine Sherry's surprise when she smells coffee (her mother's
favorite drink) and hears her mom's voice. Already destined for a
vacation in San Diego, Sherry finds out that her mother, now a
ghost and an investigator, needs help saving some rhinos at the
Wild Animal Park from being poisoned.
What I really like about the story is that Sherry and her mother
don't have it easy working together. In so many books, Sherry would
have been angry at the start, but her mother would have--by virtue
of dying--be seeing things more clearly and have turned into a
wonderful parent. Barrie doesn't let Mom off the hook this easily.
Sherry and she are stuck at the same place they were on the day of
her death, with Sherry feeling inferior and ineffectual and Mom
being the same perfectionist, totally immersed in her job. Yes, the
two have to save the rhinos, but they also have to start building a
better relationship than they ever had while Mom was alive. This is
the layer that turns a fun, fast read into something extra, a book
that definitely has us asking for a sequel.
Thanks, Barrie!