Review: Putt to Death

Putt to Death Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Roberta Isleib
Class/Genre: Mystery Woman Main Character Amateur Sleuth Cozy
Series: Golf Lover's Mysteries # 3
Berkley, Paperback, 4/04, 256 pages, $5.99

Cassie Burdette is the new touring pro at Stony Creek Country Club on the Connecticut shoreline. The job description said she’d give lessons, schmooze with the members about the professional golf circuit and help out in the pro shop – in emergencies only. She’d hit some rough patches in the LPGA tour and her friend Laura had heard about this opening and pressed her to apply.

When Cassie arrives, she meets Scott Mallory, the club’s pro and Richie, the assistant pro. She also meets Elizabeth Weigel, the president of the ladies’ group. Cassie is asked to go to the board of directors meeting that night as Scott and Rich are committed to a Connecticut PGA Section dinner. Then she meets her suite mate, Megan Donovann

At the meeting, she meets many people. Brad Latham presents a proposal to pursue Audubon Sanctuary Certification at the club. This is not met with much agreement by the board. Then Elizabeth Weigel speaks to suggest the board revisit the club’s policies regarding gender equality. None of the board is very supportive of her suggestions either.

The next day was the ladies’ member-guest tournament. Cassie was stationed on the seventh tee. If a participant’s tee shot reached the green, Cassie was to use their club to try to hit her own ball closer to the hole. If she couldn’t do it, they got a sleeve of Lady Precept balls (hottest ball on tour). By mid afternoon, Cassie found herself still stuck at the seventh tee and she had an urgent need to pee. One foursome told her the next one had fallen a hole behind so she went behind some tall reeds to relieve herself. Then she discovers Brad Latham tangled in the underbrush. He was bloody. He had been beaten. He later dies on the way to the hospital.

Cassie wonders who would want him dead. True no one was supportive of his proposal at the board meeting, but could someone have killed him for that?

Many things start to happen. Then there is another death, this time of someone Cassie has gotten to know. She begins to really look into the members and who would have wanted these two people dead. She ends up putting herself and others in danger.

I am not a golf fan, but I loved this book. Cassie is a great character. She has a lot of spunk but yet she has weaknesses too. The many additional characters in this book are all well written and really add to the story. The setting is great too. Having so many different types of people coming together in the club setting, and have the controversies they do, make it hard to know who could have done it.

I look forward to reading more of her exploits in future books. I highly recommend this book.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Dawn Dowdle

Book Review: Putt to Death