Come Helen High Water: A River Road Myst...

COME HELEN HIGH WATER was my first book by author Susan McBride, but the fourth in the River Road Mysteries series, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Happily, I didn’t feel lost at all. I quickly got to know to all of the small town characters, flaws, quirks, and all.  

I was pulled in for a ride on an emotional rollercoaster. There were so many things happening in this story. A missing person, murder (?), rising flood waters, the subject of Alzheimers. So much packed into one tale, that I’m not sure which storyline intrigued me the most.

With so much going on, I wasn’t sure how it would end. I had so many questions. However, author McBride did a great job pulling everything together for a satisfying conclusion.

Wealthy widow, eighty-one year old Eleanora Duncan, lived alone in her Victorian mansions after her husband Marvin died and she lost her only son in a car accident, caused by her daughter-in-law. 

She was a member of every imaginable club and associatioin in River Bend, Illinois, not because she was wanted or popular. On the contrary, if she wasn't so wealthy and a benefactor to all of them, nobody would have cared to even speak one word to her. She never had a good thought about anyone; she blamed Jean, her daughter-in-law, for her son's death and refused to talk to her. Her cat, Lady Godiva and Zelma, her house assistant, were the only two souls sharing her life. 

Zelma dedicated her whole life to Eleanora. She worked for her since she was sixteen years old. Mrs. Duncan told Zelma she did not need anyone else in her life. Zelma did not have family, never got married, and therefore had no children. Eleonora was her whole life.

Seventy-five-year-old Helen Evans saved Eleanora's life one sunny day when a car almost ran her over. The surprised Mrs. Duncan told Helen that someone was trying to kill her. And then she did die. 

The town had to answer to the death and had a lot to say in return. Three people visited Eleonora that day. There was Stan, her down-and-out brother-in-law who couldn't keep his inheritance intact. She constantly had to send him cheques for survival. He stood to inherit if she died. Then there was Floyd Baskin, the eco-terrorist who relied heavily on her husband's contributions to his cause. She was trying to get him cut off from her husband's beneficiary list in his will and Baskin was aware of it. Jemima Winthrop accused Eleonora all these years that her family stole the Winthrop inheritance and tried to wiggle a piece of land out of Eleonora to build a library. Eleonora ignored her. Jean, her daughter-in-law heard of the incident that morning and brought her some gourmet snacks, trying to mend relationships with her. It did not work.

This is book one in A River Road mystery.

Summary:

When Milton Grone turns up dead in tiny River Bend, Illinois, nearly all the would-be suspects have the perfect alibi: attending Thursday night's town meeting. And as Milton was hardly beloved, plenty of folks had a reason to do him in ...

Grone's next-door neighbor was furious about a fence that encroached on her property, among other wicked deeds. A pair of zealous tree huggers wanted Grone's hide for selling a parcel of pristine land to a water park. Grone's current and ex-wife both wanted a cut of the profits, which Grone seemed unwilling to share. Even the town preacher knew Grone's soul was beyond saving.

Though most of River Bend would rather reward the killer than hang him, Sheriff Biddle's not about to let this one go … and neither is Helen Evans. With a penchant for puzzles and an ear for innuendo, Helen quickly fingers the culprit before Biddle puts the wrong suspect in jail.

Review:

When I saw that Susan McBride (Debutante Dropout mystery series) was starting a new series of cozy mysteries, I jumped at the chance to start reading something new from her. I was not disappointed.

Helen Evans, the amateur sleuth, is full of energy and vigor with a good stock of common sense - she is not a sugary sweet grandma type but just a really nice person who at the age of 65-70 (can't remember how old she is) has a life outside her house.

I really enjoyed the change in backgrounds and world buildings, as DD mysteries are set in the huge sprawling Dallas community and River Road is a nice, quiet mid-western town along the Mississippi. It is just really charming without being sugary sweet.

The mystery itself was not hard to figured out, but I like the different plot lines as it gave me an opportunity to get a defined sense of the different characters.

Easy read for a lazy afternoon.

I will definitely read the next book in the series.