Leafing Through Pages - A Slaying in Savannah (Murder, She Wrote # 30)
First posted on WordPress here.
For review of all movies and TV shows by Dame Angela Lansbury, go here.
For movies, TV shows and books surrounding actors and actresses who were part of Dame Angela Lansbury’s 80’s and 90’s American crime drama television series Murder, She Wrote, go here on my other blog on LiveJournal and here on WordPress.
Stars: 3 / 5
Recommendation: This was a decent plot although a couple characters irritated me. Another fun story with expected outcome, but the path to it was surprisingly interesting and also added benefit of the ghost making it a perfect read for me when Halloween is right around the corner.
A Slaying in Savannah is the 30th novel in the long-running Murder She Wrote series co-written by Donald Bain & fictional writer Jessica Fletcher. It was first published on September of 2008. Jessica is left a large sum of money by her old friend, Tillie Mortelaine, in her will. And she is now summoned to Savannah to solve a 40 yr murder in a month's notice or she may lose that money and an opportunity to help the Literacy initiative that she and Tillie had started years ago.
This is my take on the series of books written by a plethora of authors and Jessica Fletcher (fictional author) based on the 80s and 90s popular American crime drama television series Murder, She Wrote. These books are ghost written by Donald Bain and fictional author Jessica Fletcher for the first 43 books until 2015. Then Donald Bain wrote these with Renee Paley Bain and Jon Land for four more books. After Donald Bain passed away in 2017, Jon Land alone took the baton and continued with Jessica Fletcher for 5 more books until 2020. Starting 2021 the series was picked by Terrie Farley Moran again pairing with the fictional writer Jessica Fletcher. As of 2023, 56 books have been written in this series. They are all written in first person narration.
Jessica is in the midst of greedy heirs, reluctant tenants and the ghost of the long dead Wanamaker Jones, Tillie's fiancee, in this book. I remember reading the 44th book, The Ghost and Mrs. Fletcher a while ago that deals with paranormal aspect as well. Looks like Bain touched on the paranormal aspect in more than one book.
Jessica reminisces that she met Tillie Mortelaine during her trip to Washington D.C. for the National Coalition of Literacy. However in that book ( the 22nd book A Vote for Murder) doesn’t show Tillie as a character. May be she met her but was not mentioned in that book.
I also was irritated with Melanie's portrayal. She had no concern for an elderly person as her passenger and keeps rushing to her car while Jessica has to run behind her. Also she has the most stupidest reason for the way she parks her car. Despite that Jessica is charmed by her. I would not have given her that benefit at all. She should have been more considerate and a little less flighty.
As always we get to see the history and various locations in Savannah through Jessica's eyes. Added benefit is that we get a first hand knowledge on the police procedures followed in Savannah such as procedure followed to investigate a murder or how to do a ballistics test.
We see references to Paula Deen and her cooking expertise and recipes. Obviously this book was published at least 5 yrs prior to her controversy of racial and sexual discrimination which subsequently had reduced her popularity and lost her programs on various food channels and book deals. I am sure she would have not be referred to in of the later books post-2013.
This was a decent plot although a couple characters irritated me. Another fun story with expected outcome, but the path to it was surprisingly interesting and also added benefit of the ghost making it a perfect read for me when Halloween is right around the corner.
Spoiler Alerts:
1. Plot Reveals:
a. Tillie's family & friends: Roland Richardson the Third, Attorney; Mrs. Emmanuela Goodall, housekeeper; Charmelle O'Neill, a dear friend; General James J. Pettigrew, retired army person and a resident at one of Tillie's guesthouse; Professor Arthur "Artie" G. Grogan and his wife Samantha "Sammy", residents at one of Tillie's guesthouse and paranormal researchers; Dr. Warner Payne, Tillie's family doctor; Francis "Frank" O'Neill, a retired judge & Charmelle's brother; Rosa Margaret Kendall and Roy Richard Kendall "Rocky", Tillie's niece and nephew;
b. Other characters: Melanie Goodall, Mrs. Goodall's daughter; Harold, Mayor; Amber Smith, Richardson's secretary; Joseph Jones, Wanamaker's nephew; Detective Sherry Buchwalter; Pastor Penny; John and Mabel Jones, Joseph Jones' parents; Mr. Dailey, general manager of the hotel next door to Tillie's house; Captain Mead Parker;
2. Sub Plots:
a. Friends of Jessica Fletcher: Dr. Seth Hazlitt, long-time friend in Cabot Cove, Maine; George Sutherland, senior inspector with Scotland Yard; Morton "Mort" Metzger, Cabot Cove Sherriff and his wife Maureen; Eve Simpson, realtor friend working at Cabot Cove Realty; Sam Booth, mayor of Cabot Cove; Ethan Cragg, Cabot Cove’s chief town elder;
b. Literary contacts and friends: her publisher Vaughan Buckley of Buckley House, his fashion model wife Olga Buckley and their dogs Sadie and Rose; Harry McGraw, her private eye friend; Matt Miller, her literary agent & his wife Susan; Paulette, Matt's assistant;
c. Other Characters appear frequently: Josh, the mailman; Jed Richardson, only bush pilot for Cabot Cove and owner of Jed's Flying Service, and his wife Alicia / Barbara?; Mara, restaurant owner of Mara’s Luncheonette; Hank Weathers, a homeless war vet; Seamus McGilray, manager of Hill House Hotel; Richard "Dick" Mann, Fire Chief; Charlene Sassi, a baker; Susan Shevlin, travel agent and her husband Jim, Mayor of Cabot Cove; Professor Donskoy; Roberta Dougherty, bookstore owner; Richard Koser, photographer, and his wife MaryJane; Barbara DePaoli, Chamber of Commerce's secretary; Anthon Colarusso, dentist; Beth and Peter Mullin, owners of flower shop Old Tyme Floral; Sam Davis, investment advisor; Jack Decker, publisher of Cabot Cove's monthly magazine; Peter Eder, Cabot Cove's symphony orchestra; Bob Daros, owns Heritage Fuel; Tim Purdy, treasurer of chamber of commerce and historian and president of Cabot Cove's historical society, also an investment advisor, and his wife Ellen; Pat Hitchcock, Cabot Cove's popular nurse and teacher?; Gloria Watson, Wendell's mother; Joseph "Joe" Turco, an attorney; Marcia Davis, costume designer; David and Jim Raneri, owners of Charles Department Store; Ralph Mackin, town attorney; Ed and Joan Lerner, retirees; Brenda Brody, copy editor of Cabot Cove Insider; Doug Treyz, dentist, and his wife Tina; Jack and Marilou Decker, publishers of Cabot Cove Insider; Peter and Roberta Walters, owners of the radio station; Horace Teller, publisher of Cabot Cove News; Doris Sitar, assistant manager at Cabot Cove Savings Bank; Dmitri, owner of local taxi company; Phil Wick, field manager of the phone company; John St. Clair, professor of business law at Cabot Cove Community College; Dr. Jennifer "Jenny" Countryman, Seth's partner; Reginald "Reggie" Weems, insurance agent; Richard Jenkins & Sal Marterella, city council members; Jack Wilson, the Veterinarian, and his wife Tobe;
d. Sheriff Metzger’s office staff & other law enforcement: Deputy Andy Jenks; Deputy Jack; Rookie Wendell Watson; Deputy Harold; Deputy Jerry; Alfred Gillo, medical examiner; Judge Kaplan; Marie Poutre, dispatcher;
e. Jessica Fletcher’s family: Grady Fletcher, nephew that she and her late-husband Frank raise, his wife Donna and child Frank;
f. We continue to see Mort Metzger's wife being called as Maureen. But she was named Adele in the TV show. We finally get to see the reason behind Mort's wife's name confusion. Seems to be that Adele left Mort for big city lights and he marries Maureen later. But why did the wife's name go back to Adele in the 50th book, A Time for Murder. Looks like the confusion is not completely alleviated.
g. I remember reading one of the later books (and couldn’t figure out which one was that) where we see Sam Booth as the mayor of Cabot Cove. However, since I started reading the series from the beginning, looks like the mayor of Cabot Cove is Jim Shevlin. I wonder if Sam Booth surfaces as I remember from way back read.
h. In the 27th book Coffee, Tea or Murder? we see that Jed's wife is named Barbara. But up until then she was named Alicia. Wonder if Bain will have a backup story for that in future books.
i. From the 9th book, Murder on the QE2: Mary Ward has been a prominent character in this book. Will she resurface again?
j. From the 10th book, Murder in Moscow:
i. There is still no resolution as to who or how Ward Wenington was killed in D.C. and why Vladislav "Vlady" Staritova was killed in Russia. What was the connection?
ii. Alexandra Kozhina disappears at the end of the plot. And will she surface in another book?
k. In the 50th book, A Time for Murder, Jessica is shown at Hill House, Cabot Cove’s very own Inn due to a fire at her Victorian home at 698 Candlewood Lame. I wonder if the 49th book, Murder in Red, has anything to do with her house getting caught fire which almost killed her.
l. From the 51st book, The Murder of Twelve:
i. Author Land gives considerable mystery to Seamus McGilray’s character. I wonder if he resurfaces in a future book.
ii. Towards the end of the book, Mort jokes that Jessica should run for mayor. Hmm…something to look forward to I suppose.
3. Grammatical / Character / Plot / Geographical / Historical / Mythological Errors:
a. On Pg. 14, Line 6, A missing quote for Sassi's Bakery.
b. Buchwalter was referred to as Officer in some pages and as Detective in some.
c. On Pg. 189, Line 12, it should be "…of them started to yell…"
d. The prominent photographer of Cabot Cove's last name is spelled differently in this. Up until now he was "Koser" and now he is "Kaser" in this book.