Book Review: The Decorator Who Knew Too Much by Diane Vallere (Madison Night #4)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong characters and creative plot

Cons: The reviewer doesn’t know any cons

The Bottom Line:

A trip to Palm Springs

Madison still finds body

Another great read

Did Madison Find a Dead Body?

Before I started reading the Madison Night Mysteries, there was only one Doris Day movie I had already seen – The Man Who Knew Too Much.  While I’ve been watching the title movie as I go along with this series, I was extra excited to get to the fourth in the series, The Decorator Who Knew Too Much, for that reason alone.

If you are new to the series, you might be wondering about the Doris Day connection.  Madison Night is a decorator by trade who specializes in mid-century modern decorating.  She has been a long-time fan of Doris Day and her movies, and her own sense of style comes from that era as well.

It’s been seven months since we last saw Madison, and she’s been enjoying her new relationship with Hudson James.  When he suggestions they take a working vacation to Palm Springs to help his brother-in-law with a project he has going on there, she accepts.  However, their first day there, Madison spots a dead body below the surface of the river that runs near the project site.  By the time the police show up, the body is gone.  The delays to the project and the suspicion that Madison just imagined what she said she saw begin to make the trip stressful.  How can Madison prove she was right?

This is a great premise for a mystery, and I was hooked from the beginning.  Of course, there is much more going on, and everything that Madison is dealing with in her personal life just complicates things.  I loved watching how things played out.  I didn’t see the ending coming, and the climax was wonderfully suspenseful while answering all our questions.

Since Madison and Hudson are out of town, we get to really focus on them and their new relationship.  Yes, their pets are along for the ride, and they provide some cuteness and comic relief.  We do get some updates on a character back in Dallas as well, which I appreciated.  I’m still very curious to know where Madison’s life is going to go, but I’ve got quite a few books ahead of me, still, so it’s just a matter of making the time to read them.  Anyway, the rest of the cast are just as well developed and do an excellent job of making for compelling suspects.

As I said at the beginning, I had seen The Man Who Knew Too Much years ago.  But, as is tradition, I sat down and rewatched the movie right before I started reading the book.  For those familiar with the movie, it’s obvious this plot has little to do with the plot of the Hitchcock film.  However, author Diane Vallere manages to work in some fun Easter eggs that those familiar with this particular Doris Day movie will spot.  I even laughed at how perfect one of them was to that moment in the book.  I don’t know if it was because I’ve seen this film several times or if it was because I rewatched the movie the day before I started reading the book, but I spotted more than usual here.  Or maybe I’m getting better at knowing what to look for.  Or maybe there were more this time.  Anyway, it’s a fun bonus as you read, but you don’t need to watch the movie first.

The Decorator Who Knew Too Much was another fun mystery with Madison Night.  Whether you are a Doris Day fan or not, you’ll enjoy these mysteries.  And they might turn you into a Doris Day fan along the way.  It might be working for me.

Check out the rest of the Madison Night Mysteries.