Forever Fatal: An Aggie Mundeen Mystery

Nancy Glass West
Deadly Niche Press (2009)
ISBN 9780937660775
Reviewed by Marcy Blesy for Reader Views (12/09)

 

“Forever Fatal” by Nancy Glass West is a mystery led by Aggie Mundeen, a thirty-year-old woman struggling to remain young.   She moves to Texas, the home of a former friend, Sam.  Aggie, together with her friend Meredith, joins health club Forever Fit.  While there she meets a cast of characters including the stereotypical young men and women who join health clubs for the sole interest of earning dates.  Of course, Aggie hopes for that, too, yet pines for Sam, whom she feels she could never approach romantically because of a painful secret she keeps.  On the first day at the club, Aggie befriends a young girl named Holly who has suffered a near tragic accident.  As things turn worse for Holly, Aggie starts to believe that Holly’s accidents were, in fact, intentional.  When Aggie starts to feel ill, the plot thickens and Aggie races to find out if the person who hurt Holly is now after her.  While her police detective friend cautions Aggie to be careful, she does everything within her power to solve the mystery on her own. 

The author creates a cast of interesting characters.  In addition to the mystery, Aggie takes classes on aging to learn everything she can to slow down the process.  What thirty-year-old woman doesn’t hope to find the fountain of youth?  The writing is humorous as the characters are very clichéd.  The author spends too much time telling instead of showing at times in the story, which tends to bog it down at points, but the overall story keeps the reader interested in discovering how it will end.  The reader will cheer for Aggie to succeed in both solving the mystery and finding love in her life. 

The end of “Forever Fatal” suggests that another Aggie Mundeen mystery will follow.  I wish Aggie well, and hope that Ms. West will tighten up the writing some to allow things to develop more naturally.  Aggie is a likable sleuth.

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