Posing in Paradise

Somehow I never pictured Northampton, Massachusetts as Paradise, but apparently back in the day Jenny Lind the Swedish Nightingale did.  Harry Reese also seems to be immune to its charms in Posing in Paradise (#636), Robert Bruce Stewart's latest addition to an amusing turn-of-the-century Harry Reese Mystery series.  Of course, it is his wife Emmie's home town, but even she is resisting the frantic barrage of letters from her mother, begging Emmie to come home and help her!

It isn't until Emmie catches wind of author Henry James' pending speaking engagement in Northampton that Emmie abruptly changes her mind and determines to rush to her mother's aid. Harry is suspicious of the sudden change of heart, but since he has been promised a visit from a "gentleman" with a cauliflower ear to collect on a rather large debt Harry owes, he gallantly escorts his wife on her errand of mercy.

Emmie's orphaned cousins are proving to be more than Mrs. McGinness can handle.  Teen-aged twins Hal and Gloria's romantic entanglements keep her in a turmoil, and as for twelve year old Pluribus, well, he's a child right out of a teacher's worst nightmare...  Unfortunately for her mother's hopes, Emmie is too busy planning how best to get her unpublished manuscript into Henry James's hands to spend much time dealing with domestic angst.

Harry does his best to try to stay out of the way, as well, but then there's that body he discovered shortly after arriving in town that keeps appearing and disappearing, an escaped patient from the local asylum and the unexpected presence in town of one of the Reese's bête noirs with just a touch of blackmail thrown in to liven things up. Visiting the in-laws is just a little too exciting for Harry's taste!

I can always feel a smile on my face as I read these Street Car Mysteries.  There are many references to both Harry and Emmie's previous adventures in Posing in Paradise, so I would definitely recommend reading both the Harry Reese and Emmie Reese books from the beginning for maximum enjoyment.  I don't think there's anything else out there quite like this couple; the closest comparison I can come up with is Nick and Nora Charles.  If you like the rather absurd situations that silver screen couple finds themselves in, you're likely to become a fan of  the adventures in - as Harry puts it - Emmie Land.