Mostly Murder

Gioya McRae
Mocha Mind Communications (2006)
ISBN 0977454207
Reviewed by Ellen Hogan for Reader Views (11/06)

This book is a compilation of stories, some about murder and others not. Two of them have the character of Pepper Brimley, the others stand alone. Here are a couple of my favorites.

“Backtrack” -- Edress' friend Connie is getting married and they are planning her wedding. But, Edress keeps having these nightmares and can't remember what happens in them.  One day Edress and Connie go to the store of Mr. Paphian.  He sells fabric and notions and is also the uncle of Connie's fiance. Edress gets a strange feeling while she is there and when she gets home she tries to call Dr. Norman but finds out that he is away. Edress confronts Mr. Paphian and tells him she is starting to remember what he did to her as a child. He told her that no one would believe her since he was such a respected businessman in the community. After that Edress sees Dr. Norman and they become more that patient and doctor. She also tells Connie what she remembers; Connie then tells her fiance and their wedding is called off.  Then there is a pattern of tauntings between Edress and Mr. Paphian escalating each time. Edress marries her Dr. Norman and Mr. Paphian confesses before his death. But, there is a twist to the end that you will have to read the story to find out.

“The Mini Murders” -- Someone is killing children and Pepper Brimley is on the case.  Maya does not have any children, but has a beloved niece and nephew. She buys them things at a store called The Fairy's Closet. Maya is horrified when she sees police find the body of yet another child, this time at a junk dealer she had recently visited.  Her nephew Peter is about to celebrate his first birthday so off to The Fairy's Closet she goes to find him the perfect outfit to wear that day. She remembers buying Peter's sister Sherri the book Famous Fairy Tales there. Luella the owner of the store points Maya in the right direction after they exchange pleasantries. On her way to work, Maya almost trips over something in the snow. When she sees what it is, she immediately calls the police. It's another dead child. Pepper Brimley interviews Maya several times and she tells him all that she knows. It's not long before Maya is walking by the church and there is a commotion across the street where yet another child is found. Pepper starts putting two and two together and coming up with Maya. She was at the junk dealer, she found the child at work, she just happened to be at the church when another was found. Then her niece died and they tried to find some way to make her responsible for that. Maya left her home and hid out and tried to figure out who was setting her up. Then she realized that all the children were dressed up as fairy tales. A call came from her sister telling her that Peter had been taken. So, off Maya goes to confront Luella. Sure enough, she finds Peter dressed like Peter Pan in the store. Luella told Maya how she would listen to her and set her crimes to wherever Maya was going to be. Pepper Brimley arrived just in the nick of time.

Every story in this book is worth reading. Ms. McRae states in the introduction that most writers of color feel pigeon-holed into writing about social issues or politics. She wanted to give them a new voice and she has succeeded. Murder, romance, and just a little bit of the weird-- it's all here in “Mostly Murder.”

Make comment on weblog