Book Review: Caught in a Bind by Gayle Roper (Amhearst Mysteries #3)

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Great characters, funny scenes

Cons: One sub-plot takes up too much time

The Bottom Line:

More small town intrigue

Missing husbands and murder

Create a fun read

With All the Stuff Disappearing, Why Did That Body Appear?

Missing husbands, missing money, abuse, and corpses appearing are just a few of the things that reporter Merry Kramer must deal with in Caught in a Bind, the third Amhearst Mystery by Gayle Roper. When Merry moved to the small Pennsylvania town of Amhearst, she never dreamed that it would continually lead her into life threatening mysteries. But that's exactly what happens again here. And I enjoyed rereading it.

Merry's co-worker Edie Whitley is especially distracted that Friday at work. Her husband, Tom, never came home last night. Considering how close they are, that worried Merry, too.

Tom works for Hamblin Motors, a car dealership in town. The dealership is reporting that Tom stole a car and $12,000. Tom is a kind, level headed person. This just doesn't sound like him.

Edie is desperate for company, so Merry goes to the Whitley house to keep her company. That's how she happens to be on hand when a dead body is found in the front seat of Edie's son's car. What in the world is happening?

Meanwhile, Merry's boyfriend Curt has a new, beautiful business associate who seems interested in more then Curt's paintings. And the new owner of the The News is about to make his staffing announcements. Merry has just settled into town, but is it time to move on?

Once again, author Gayle Roper has written a spell binding book. I absolutely love these characters. They are so incredibly real. I especially relate to Merry's quick temper and insecurities. It's easy to root for her to wind up happy. While a few of the other characters introduced in earlier books are reduced to cameos, Curt gets plenty of time to shine again. I love his character as well. There are several laugh out loud moments thanks to the characters in the midst of all the mystery.

Unfortunately, this book isn't quite up to the first two in the series. I had bits and pieces of the plot figured out well before Merry. In fact, I felt like screaming at her when she overlooked a couple obvious things.

To further complicate things, the book deals quite a bit with spousal abuse. Now don't get me wrong, I know what an important topic that is. But those passages related only marginally to the mystery and some of them felt like they should have been a non-fiction essay instead of part of a novel.

The one things that wasn't preachy was the Christian component. Since this is a Christian novel, many (but by no means all) of the characters are Christians. That greatly impacts how they live their lives. But that is handled as part of their lives and never once slows things down.

Having picked at the plot, I do have a confession to make. I read this book initially in 2001. That may have effected why I was ahead of Merry on the plot, but I sure don't think so. In fact, I could remember very little about the book before I started. And, thanks to the great writing, I was hooked all over again. I actually stayed up until one in the morning to finish it.

While not as strong as the first two entries in the series, Caught in a Bind is still a great read. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a great mystery.