Cyndy Salzmann, Crime and Clutter

Crime and Clutter

Cyndy Salzmann

Howard, Apr 2007, $13.00

ISBN: 1582296448

This week the six members of the Friday Afternoon Club (FAC) escape from their families' meeting at Lizzie's house. At the gathering, Maxine the cop asks Mary Alice what she was doing at Storage Unlimited. She explains that her father, who abandoned her as a baby, had his stuff shipped to her so she rented storage space.

Her friends accompany Mary Alice when she goes to open her storage facility. Inside she finds a 1963 Volkswagen minibus. Looking at the memorabilia by the car, a series of flashbacks tells the story of the brief marriage between her parents. Following the clues at the storage facility, the crew heads to a commune with no bathroom facility and the residents hung around getting high. Letters tell her more about how her dad went to the Chicago Democratic Party Convention where he became a fugitive on the lam from the police, forcing him to abandon the child he wanted to cherish with love.

The mystery of what happened to Mary Alice's father is explained in CRIME AND CLUTTER in such a way Denny is the prime character of the storyline. He was disillusioned by society and then disappointed with his efforts to foster change that cost him so much he held precious, his Mary Alice and her offspring. The group does more than share recipes (there is plenty of that too) as they support one another with coping with life's curveballs. The FAC is fans will want more tales of this fascinating group of moms' weekly escaping.

Harriet Klausner