Mood to Murder (Betty Trenka Series, 4)

Rating:
Summary: One Word: Blah
Review: A very bland tale. Where is the mystery? I am afraid that Joyce Christmas has lost her touch. This tale about pseudo-satanists and angst-ridden teenagers is obvious and totally charmless, most unlike the three previous Betty Trenka mysteries. Has Joyce lost her touch?

Rating:
Summary: One Word: Blah
Review: A very bland tale. Where is the mystery? I am afraid that Joyce Christmas has lost her touch. This tale about pseudo-satanists and angst-ridden teenagers is obvious and totally charmless, most unlike the three previous Betty Trenka mysteries. Has Joyce lost her touch?

Rating:
Summary: Great cozy
Review: Forced into retirement after three decades as an office manager, Betty Trenka moves to East Moulton, Connecticut where she still seeks to find something productive to do with her time. While visiting her neighbor Ted Kelso, Betty meets Brad Melville, who has a nefarious reputation amidst parents of teenagers throughout the town. However, teens think so highly of Brad, he has become a cult-like figure to them. Betty also meets Brad's girl friend, Raven, who gives the appearance of being a witch. Brad and Raven frighten Betty.

When the school secretary becomes ill, the principal temporarily hires Betty to take over the job. Betty also hires troubled fourteen-year-old Tommy Rockwell to mow her lawn. Betty becomes concerned with Tommy's quest for power and vengeance against his peers who seem to always pick on him. Even more worrisome to Betty is the influence of Brad on Tommy. She thinks something deadly is coming and there is little she can do to stop it.

The fourth Betty Trenka cozy is a warm New England tale that fans of the Jessica Fletcher series will enjoy. Like the previous three tales, MOOD TO MURDER, is a character-driven story. Betty remains an intriguing individual whose philosophy on the whims of life is the key to her essence and the overall plot of the novel. The secondary characters add a husky New England flavor to the mix. Though the story line is entertaining, there is little action until the climax. As with her Lady Priam mysteries, Joyce Christmas provides a gift to those readers who enjoyable a serene cozy.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Write-By-Numbers
Review: I enjoyed the three earlier Betty Trenka mysteries, but this one was plodding, uninspired. A big problem is that of the Obvious Villain. Where, exactly, is the mystery? Moreover, it struck me as implausible that parents allowed their children to hang out with that very odd couple 15 years older. Not one parent put a foot down? The really interesting twist was in the development of a neighbor's personality--one who turns out to be a lot less insightful than he's been portrayed to date.