Book Review: Double Dealer by Barbara Taylor McCafferty and Beverly Taylor Heald (Tatum Twins Mysteries #4)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Great characters and plot

Cons: A couple slow spots

The Bottom Line:

Double stakes are raised

As murder hits close to home

Can they clear Ellie?

Antiques are Murder

Double Dealer is the fourth book in the Tatum Twins Mystery series. Nan and Bert Tatum are identical twin sisters named after the older pair of Bobbsey Twins.

When an unsavory antiques dealer is murdered, Nan and Bert are question because of recent fights they've had with him. But when Bert's daughter Ellie is arrested for the murder after confessing, the twins dive head first into the case to find the real killer. Further complicating matters for Bert is her ex-husband. Jake wants back into her life and is using this case to drive a wedge between her and current boyfriend Hank, the detective assigned to the case and responsible for arresting Ellie. Even more confusion happens when Ellie tells her mom that she didn't do it. What is really going on?

Since this is the fourth book in the series, the characters have become so strong and familiar that I didn't have any trouble at all with the gimmick of alternating narration in the successive chapters. In fact, part of the fun of this book is seeing the personalities of the twins switch after Ellie is arrested. Normally easy going Bert becomes a momma bear trying to protect her daughter with Nan trying to reign her in. The plot is slow in a couple places, but over all flows very smoothly. The authors have the characters voices down, and it shows in the smooth writing style no matter which twin is narrating the action.

If you're already a fan of these twins, Double Dealer is for you. If you haven't meant them yet, start with the first. You won't regret it at all.

And if you are interested, here's The Tatum Twins Mysteries in order.