The Icing on the Corpse (Camilla MacPhee Mysteries)

Rating:
Summary: Snappy dialogue & endearing characters
Review: Mary Jane Maffini hails from Sydney, Nova Scotia and currently lives in Ottawa with her spouse and "various neurotic pets." A graduate of Dalhousie University, she is a former librarian who broke into writing via the publication of numerous short stories, which garnered many awards. Her short story fiction has appeared in: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Chatelaine, Storyteller, On-Spec, Over My Dead Body, as well as many anthologies. The Icing on the Corpse follows up the award winning Speak Ill of the Dead.

Camilla MacPhee, lawyer, embattled sister of three stiff-necked debutantes, and social crusader is once again on patrol as victim's advocate for Justice For Victims. One of her clients, Lindsey Grace, has just testified against Ralph Benning, ferocious wife batterer. But Canadian law put Ralph back on the streets in eighteen months. His first move was to revisit his former wife, who turns up dead. Camilla, her friend Merv of the Canadian Mounties, her rebellious and ever-surprising employee Alvin, and her elderly neighbor and Harvey's aficionado Mrs. Parnell rush over to help Lindsey. Somehow they all fall asleep, and Camilla's friend Elaine, Executive Director of "Women Against Violence Everywhere," ends up as primary suspect when Ralph's frozen body is found as an ice sculpture. Elaine rushes to confess to the murder that Camilla knows she didn't commit:

"As soon as it slammed shut, I turned to my alleged client. You're enjoying this.' Well, it is an opportunity. Think of the profile for WAVE. You know, Camilla, at first I thought we had a disaster but on sober second thought, I realize this will give us some major media coverage."

Ms. Maffini has honed her writing skills to a sharp point with The Icing On The Corpse. She juxtaposes Camilla's grim effort to solve the murder and save her friend against her hilarious efforts to deal with her sister's upcoming wedding and the issue of shopping for a bridesmaid dress. Using a skillful combination of snappy dialogue, endearing characters, and terrifying action, Maffini snares the reader from page one until the alarming denouement. Camilla stays in lovable character throughout the entire book, as women everywhere cheer her on.

Shelley Glodowski, Reviewer

Rating:
Summary: Snappy dialogue & endearing characters
Review: Mary Jane Maffini hails from Sydney, Nova Scotia and currently lives in Ottawa with her spouse and "various neurotic pets." A graduate of Dalhousie University, she is a former librarian who broke into writing via the publication of numerous short stories, which garnered many awards. Her short story fiction has appeared in: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Chatelaine, Storyteller, On-Spec, Over My Dead Body, as well as many anthologies. The Icing on the Corpse follows up the award winning Speak Ill of the Dead.

Camilla MacPhee, lawyer, embattled sister of three stiff-necked debutantes, and social crusader is once again on patrol as victim's advocate for Justice For Victims. One of her clients, Lindsey Grace, has just testified against Ralph Benning, ferocious wife batterer. But Canadian law put Ralph back on the streets in eighteen months. His first move was to revisit his former wife, who turns up dead. Camilla, her friend Merv of the Canadian Mounties, her rebellious and ever-surprising employee Alvin, and her elderly neighbor and Harvey's aficionado Mrs. Parnell rush over to help Lindsey. Somehow they all fall asleep, and Camilla's friend Elaine, Executive Director of "Women Against Violence Everywhere," ends up as primary suspect when Ralph's frozen body is found as an ice sculpture. Elaine rushes to confess to the murder that Camilla knows she didn't commit:

"As soon as it slammed shut, I turned to my alleged client. You're enjoying this.' Well, it is an opportunity. Think of the profile for WAVE. You know, Camilla, at first I thought we had a disaster but on sober second thought, I realize this will give us some major media coverage."

Ms. Maffini has honed her writing skills to a sharp point with The Icing On The Corpse. She juxtaposes Camilla's grim effort to solve the murder and save her friend against her hilarious efforts to deal with her sister's upcoming wedding and the issue of shopping for a bridesmaid dress. Using a skillful combination of snappy dialogue, endearing characters, and terrifying action, Maffini snares the reader from page one until the alarming denouement. Camilla stays in lovable character throughout the entire book, as women everywhere cheer her on.

Shelley Glodowski, Reviewer

Rating:
Summary: Capital Crimes in Canada
Review: Victims' advocate Camilla MacPhee lashes on her skates and scoots across the Rideau Canal in her second Ottawa adventure, this time on the trail of a serial batterer. A sucker for a cause but nobody's fool, she organizes a group to "stand on guard" for the criminal's threatened girlfriend. As the capital city gamely dons toques and parkas to celebrate its annual Winterlude, a suspicious ice sculpture has the police knocking on doors. Suddenly Camilla finds herself enmeshed in a complex plot involving blackmail and murder, making tracks in her clunky Canadian Sorel boots and looking over her shoulder.
Along for the ride is her acerbic assistant Alvin, who beats the cold by transforming his apartment into a Florida beach complete with sand, Buffett music, and margaritas. Living up to her reputation as a deft hand at character and repartee, Maffini adds an unforgettable ally in the sherry-swilling Mrs. Parnell, who wields a walker like a grenade launcher. Meanwhile, assaulting her by cellphone and shopping sprees are Camilla's Learish family of sisters, the eldest about to be married and pecking at her to behave.
Maffini sets up a dessert tray of likely suspects with a plot as tasty and addictive as the festival's flaky cinnamon pastry known as bear paws. The windchill may be forty below, but the warmth and charm of this spunky heroine on her zany crusade will send the reader heading to the bookstore for the sequel.