Cynthia Thomason Grave Review

Grave Review

Cynthia Thomason

Five Star, Sept 2005, $25.95, 256 pp.

ISBN 1594142963

After inheriting the showboat the Jubilee Palace, The Barlows, mother Lillian daughter Gwen and brother Preston leave their staid existence in a small town and perform shows along the rivers of America. Their latest stop is Moss Hollow, Kentucky; an insular village that makes the star of the show Marianne Dresden acts very peculiar. Instead of acting like her casual out going self, she hides in her stateroom.

Gwen learns the reason the star is acting despondent and reclusive is because she came from this town and her real name is Mary Alice Kobb who left home in disgrace. Her father, a stern emotionally abusive man wants her to come home which she refuses to do and after the performances his body is found dead. The sheriff refuses to let the Jubilee leave until the murderer is caught and when another killing occurs, Gwen decides to snoop never realizing that she will be caught in a killer's trap.

Readers who like exciting amateur sleuth novels set in an American historical setting near the turn of the twentieth century will find the Jubilee showboat mysteries a pure delight. Cynthia Thomason creates characters that are easy to like and places then in situations that range from the comical to dangerous sometimes in the same scene. She creates a picture of a bygone era, one this reviewer finds enchanting.

Harriet Klausner