Old Faithful Murder - Softcover

Wolzien, Valerie

3.72

226 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0449147444 ISBN 13: 9780449147443

Publisher: Fawcett, 1992

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The Henshaw family vacation at Yellowstone National Park turns tragic when George Ericksen -- whose family has been befriended by the Henshaws -- is found murdered at the foot of Old Faithful. When amateur sleuth Susan Henshaw takes the case, a web of twisted emotions and buried secrets quickly unfolds, and Susan finds that everyone had a reason to kill George. But there can only be one killer . . . can't there?

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From the Publisher:

Although I now live in New York City, there's a lot I can identify with in Valerie Wolzien's mysteries. Valerie's portraits of small towns and suburban communities remind me of my youth -- and I suspect they strike a similar chord with all those readers who live (or used to) far from urban centers. Also, Valerie's novels are like comfort food in a way -- because they are, in part, celebrations of holidays and happy social occasions (weddings, birthday parties, family vacation trips) . . . plus the mandatory addition of homicidal doings. Valerie is now writing two series with two different amateur sleuths -- suburban housewife Susan Henshaw (MURDER AT THE PTA LUNCHEON is her first appearance) and businesswoman Josie Pigeon (who started solving murders in SHORE TO DIE). I heartily recommend anything Valerie Wolzien writes.

--Joe Blades, Associate Publisher

From Publishers Weekly:

Susan Henshaw's family winter vacation in Yellowstone National Park is quickly overwhelmed by the Ericksen clan's reunion at the same snowed-in hotel. When an effigy of domineering Grandfather Ericksen is thrown into a geyser and the curmudgeon himself is murdered, Henshaw is called upon to play amateur sleuth. Soon another body--that of the gay lover of one of the Ericksen sons--is found frozen in the snow. What follows is a genre mystery with a myriad of flaws. The Ericksens are portrayed as a dysfunctional family, and so readers must suffer through pages of psychobabble. And although a storm's stranding the guests in the park without police assistance is plausible, why should housewife Henshaw run the investigation when a park ranger on site has police training and another guest is a former police detective? Nor does Wolzien ( We Wish You a Merry Murder ) do Yellowstone justice; she uses the isolated winter wilderness as a plot device but neglects to use it for texture. Finally, the motivations she ascribes to the killer are contradictory: having killed ostensibly to keep a favorite family member near, the murderer is willing to let that relative go to prison as the fall guy in the murders.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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