Book 22, 2022

Basket Case by Nancy Haddock

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I finished my work book at work today! It was Basket Case by Nancy Haddock, and it's the first book in the "Silver Six Crafting" mystery series. Narrative is in first person pov by the main character Leslee Stanton Nix (Nixy).

After repeated phone calls from Lilyvale police officer Eric Shoar, Nixy takes a break from her job in an upscale Houston art gallery to pay a visit to her Aunt Sherry Mae to make sure Sherry and her senior housemates are managing on their own. It seems there have been explosions in the kitchen and neighbors calling to complain, and Officer Shoar implies that the seniors could become wards of the state if they can't take better care of themselves. When Nixy arrives, she finds that Sherry and her friends are smart, savvy, and with it, and that they all take care of one another. She feels much relieved until she also learns that a greedy land developer has been making veiled threats in an effort to get Sherry to sell the option to purchase her property. When the odious Ms Elsman is found dead on Sherry's property and Sherry gets hauled in for questioning, Nixy extends her stay in Lilyvale until she can be sure the real killer is arrested.

This was a charming and engaging story. I loved how Sherry and her friends (who dubbed themselves the Silver Six) all kept busy with various crafts and projects and volunteer duties in the community. They're all living in Sherry's large home, and they truly do look out for one another and take care of each other. In fact, most everyone in the small town of Lilyvale looked out for their neighbors. The fly in the ointment, of course, was Jill Elsman, and I wanted to kill the vicious heifer myself before someone finally did her in. Characters were portrayed well, from cranky Fred to eccentric Ms Gilroy, and the plot proceeded smoothly.

Favorite line: "None of us is safe all the time, but that manly body warming a woman's bed would sure enough be a comfort."

I enjoyed this enough that I will definitely look for more in this series. Four stars!

Since this is the first in a series, I'm subjecting it to my ( Trope Test )