Title: Death takes a
tumble
By
Author: Aimee Deschaine
Tag line: One
thing was certain, Della’s descent had not happened by accident!
Police characters: Officer John Francisco
and newspaper reporter, Cora.
The gist: Ms. Della Reed, the town’s wealthiest woman,
had been found dead in her home by two of her school chums who had come back to
town for a class reunion. Cora, a
newspaper reporter, showed up at the home when she heard the news. When Officer Francisco, who was speaking to
the two chums, saw Cora Reporter arrive, he walked over to her to fill her in.
Della had
not shown up for the reunion event, and the next day her two chums came to the
house, saw her through a glass door lying at the bottom on the staircase, and
called the police. Officer Francisco at
first thought the death was an accidental fall down the stairs, but became
suspicious when he saw a large lump on the back of her head.
The three women
had met for lunch the day before the reunion.
Della’s brother, Carl, who also lived in the house, had been there
during the lunch. Della liked to take
Polaroid photos and Cora Reporter found three photos sitting beside the plate
of cookies Della had planned to take to the reunion. Cora Reporter picked them
up and examined them. The first photo showed the two chums standing in front of
a coat rack that held umbrellas, hats, a couple of rain slickers and a man’s
raincoat. Photo number two, taken by Carl,
showed the three women on the couch drinking tea. The last photo showed the two chums leaning
on a Mercedes in the driveway, while Carl in a plaid jacket and holding a
briefcase waved from the driver’s side door.
Carl was leaving for a business trip.
One of the chums
said that a contractor’s truck showed up as they were leaving and that Della
did not seem pleased to see it. Della and her brother had been warding off developers
who wanted their property to turn it into a high-priced condo community.
Cora Reporter
had heard that Della and one of the chums had been rivals all through school
and wondered if that had played a part in Della’s death.
Carl, having
been called when his sister had been found, came rushing in, dropped his
raincoat and briefcase, and broke down when he saw his sister’s body.
Cora
Reporter told the officer she knew who the killer was.
Crime scene: Rich woman’s home.
Clues: The photographs.
Suspects: Two female friends, her brother, a strange
contractor.
Red herrings: The high school rival. And then Just a lot of stupidity to throw you
off.
Solution: The
brother, Carl, killed his sister after an argument over selling the house. The first photograph showed a raincoat
hanging on the rack. Carl was not
wearing a raincoat in the second photo where he was in the car leaving, but
Cora Reporter saw him throw one down when
he rushed in today. He must have come
back, argued with his sister, killed her, and grabbed his coat on the way out.
My two cents: Okay, let’s start with
the police. Officer Francisco is
suspicious of a lump on the back of a woman’s head, a woman who fell down a
flight of stairs? Really? Did he think she would fall to her death and
not get a mark on her somewhere? Did you
ever see the scene in Death Becomes Her where Meryl Streep falls down the
stairs? It’s pretty horrific. She’s all
twisted up and broken when it’s over.
There’s even a bone sticking out of her neck. Anyway, my point is that a lump on her head is
not suspicious in this circumstance.
Next, let’s
talk about the photographs. So there’s a
raincoat on the rack in one, and Carl is not wearing a raincoat while pictured
seated in the driver’s seat. Um – maybe it’s
in the back seat? Maybe after the photo
was taken, Carl said, oops, I forgot my raincoat and he went back in and got it. This was a terrible and unbelievable clue.
“When Officer Francisco, who was speaking to
the two chums, saw Cora Reporter, he walked over to her to fill her in.” And then he turned in his badge before the
department had a chance to fire his butt. Any police officer that gives info to
the press will be on desk duty for months, and it’s going to be really
uncomfortable for him to sit at a desk with most of his ass chewed off. And a newspaper reporter is not going to be
allowed to walk around the crime scene and talk to the witnesses for Pete’s
sake. The detective bureau and crime scene haven’t even been there yet. She handled the photographs! She touched evidence! She’s dropping DNA and leaving prints all
over the crime scene! Now look at that. This author made me use exclamation points. I must be really perturbed.
There was
motive, barely. The pacing was
okay. The writing was okay. The characters were unbelievable and the clue
that was used could easily be explained, so really it was a non-clue.
Two
stars. Reluctantly. Exclamation point.
