| NEW BOOK
- DEADLY SINS - DEADLY SECRETS Click on the link to follow
New Review Deadly Sins - Deadly Secrets
Check out this review
by
New Review by Carol
Menchu Review by DEADLY SINS DEADLY SECRETS: A Sidra Smart Mystery By Sylvia Dickey Smith L&L Dreamspell, 2007 ISBN: 978-1-60318-018-4, $16.95 Review by Cindy Chow Having decided to leave her husband, take over her late brother’s private investigation business, and move into a new home, Sidra Smart discovers that it’s the latter that may be the most disrupting to her new life. That’s definitely a surprise for Sidra, considering that an act of charity just had her attempting to return a lost dog to his owner only to discover the old woman’s dead body. However, that tragedy has the positive affect of Sidra adopting the dog and keeping her interfering but dog-disliking aunt from pestering Sidra to move in with her. Sidra’s career continues to look up when she is hired to investigate a double homicide that was closed when the killer committed suicide by throwing himself under a train. The father of the suspect believes that his son was innocent and is willing to pay Sidra to prove it. Although still a little unsure of her skills, Sidra throws herself into the investigation. As the former wife of a minister, though, residual bitterness towards the church and religion may be influencing her when she decides that one of the victims was overly involved in a fringe church led by a charismatic reverend. It’s a viewpoint that is further enforced when Reverent Blue’s wife comes to Sidra looking for a sympathetic ear to share her secret of infidelity. Sidra is less than receptive to the distraught woman who flees only to find herself in more trouble than she ever could have imagined. The sequel to Dance on His Grave, Smith reveals her skills in the progression of Sidra’s independent spirit and sense of self. What is most remarkably different from the first in this series is the strong element of paranormal elements as ghosts make themselves known in Sidra’s new home. What both novels do share is a dramatic and shockingly violent conclusion. The sudden inclusion of the reverend’s secretary and her conversion to Sidra’s side is jarring, but Smith creates a satisfying resolution to Sidra’s dilemma over a man that began in the previous novel. This is an enjoyable and well-written series by a new author who shows promise with her unique and increasingly strong leading lady.
Review by Kevin Tipple Link to Review by
Brenda Cannon Henley DEADLY SINS DEADLY SECRETS, the second installment of Sylvia Dickey Smith’s Sidra Smart series, is a tale of how small town secrets and small-minded attitudes seldom mix with pleasant results. Sid is desperately trying to keep the private investigation business she inherited from her brother open while living in a ghost active house with her overly-involved aunt and her overly-indulged feline, as well as a dog Sid saved from going to the pound when his owner died. Sid’s love life and her professional life seem to be at odds with one another and with her past as the wife of a Baptist minister. To add another helping onto her already full plate, Sid is hired by a “tobacco-spitting, chair-rocking old codger more interested in the shine on his shoes than the dust on his furniture” to clear his dead son’s name after he was accused of a double murder. After all, just because he happened to have been spotted at the scene around the time of the crime and just because his fingerprints were on the murder weapon does not automatically mean he was guilty of the crime. But try convincing the local sheriff of that—especially when the prime suspect is no longer able to mount a defense to the charges. Sid must trudge deep into the swamp and even deeper into the past in order to solve this case. As if that isn’t bad enough, her preacher ex-husband shows up in the middle of her date with a new man and the ghost who haunts her aunt’s house refuses to allow Sid a good night’s rest. This ghost is a long dead relative of her new client and former owner of that same house. Scrappy Kate, as she was known in life, has vital information for Sid about the present, her new case and the people involved in it. Sylvia Dickey Smith is a master storyteller who weaves a tale tighter than a hangman’s noose. Her characters resonate with a down-home true feeling found in small towns all across America. They come alive on the page. This is a book I could not put down and highly recommend. New Review from "The Record LIVE" paper.
Review by Wanda C. Keesey Dance On His
Grave Warren Chadwick is killed in an accident, or was it an accident. Sidra Smart, Warren's sister inherits his private eye business and his case load. She doesn't know anything about being a detective of any kind and sends client, Jewell Stone away, until she's talked into giving the new career a try. She decides it has to be better than the stifling life as a minister's wife that she had just escaped. But is it? She is drawn into what might be a thirty year old crime. Attempts are made on her life. Why? Did it have something to do with the cold case, or did it have something to do with her investigation into her brother's "accidental" death? The story of abuse and murder that happened years ago gets even more complicated when there's another death. Could the unanswered questions in Warren's death be linked to her ex-husband's church? As complicated as her life seems to have gotten, Sid finds the office of The Third Eye, Intuitive Investigations a surprisingly comfortable fit. There's never
a dull moment--or page in this book. Sylvia
Dickey Smith has built a novel worth staying
up all night to finish, if necessary, and
it's the first in the series. How great is
that? |
Got a great Cajun recipe to share? Send us a copy, and maybe we'll post it here next time, along with your name. Email Sylvia!
