It’s a Mod Mystery
Whenever I pick up a Diane Vallere book, I know I’m in for a great time. No matter the series, the characters will be sharp, there will be laughs, and the mystery will keep me engaged. I found all those things in Stark Raving Mod, the thirteenth Samantha Kidd Mystery.
If you haven’t yet met Samantha, she is a former buyer for a big New York City department store who has moved home to Ribbon, Pennsylvania. Over the course of the series, she’s had a variety of jobs, and, at the moment, she’s a fashion columnist for the local paper.
And her current assignment has been related to the auction of a singer. Boyd Brighton was the lead singer of the Modifiers, a British band that had some success with their first release in the 1960’s, but never recorded a second record. A local auction house won the bid for his estate, and Samantha has won a locked trunk for hardly any money.
However, she quickly realizes that others are very interested in it. Before she can even open it, someone steals it from her cubicle at the paper and someone else offers much, much, much more than she paid for it to buy the trunk from her. Then, when she decides to sell, the new owner is dead just a few hours later. What is going on?
The book plunges us right into the mystery, and I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. We got plenty of twists and turns. The ending seemed a little abrupt, but it did answer my questions.
Unfortunately, Diane’s books often need a timeline polish, and that was the case here. We had an entire day that people seemed to forget about after it happened. Not what happened during that day, mind you. There were also a few more spelling and grammar typos than typical, although those were mostly concentrated near the beginning of the book. Either that, or I didn’t notice when I got pulled into the story.
But these were more minor annoyances than anything else. I was having such fun getting to the end that I just shrugged it off and kept moving forward.
Part of that is because of the characters. Samantha is a fantastic main character. She’s sympathetic and just pushy enough to make the plot work. I also appreciate how she continues to grow in each book. A couple of the supporting players aren’t in this book much, but it gives another couple more of a chance to shine. I’m very curious where one of them is going to go from here.
Speaking of which, we get quite the surprise at the end. I need to know what the ending of this book is going to mean for the series going forward.
As I mentioned earlier, this book has plenty of laughs. There are the situations Samantha gets into, the banter with the others characters, and her first-person commentary. While the stakes of the mystery are very real, there is plenty of fun to be had along the way.
Overall, Stark Raving Mod is another delightful romp with Samantha. Whether you are a new fan or have read all of the books to date, you’ll be happy you picked this book up when you turn the final page.
Be sure to check out the rest of the Samantha Kidd Mysteries.
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