Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
Cheat the Devil
Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Jane Rubino
Class/Genre: Mystery Woman Main Character Classic
Series: Cat Austen # 3
Write Way, Aug 1998, $23.95, 352 pp.
Cat Austen dreads her spur of the moment agreement to accompany her beau, New Jersey police Lieutenant Victor Cardenas on a getaway trip.. She is elated when Victor has to cancel due to being assigned the investigation of a murder. However, her joy turns to sadness when she realizes that the victim was connected to St. Agnes Church where her brother Dom is a priest. Cat also learns that this is the fourth murder of a person related to the church.
Three more people are killed, all having some involvement with the St. Agnes Church. Victor, who is frustrated with the way his relationship with Cat seems to have been stalled by her for reasons unknown, begins to believe that Father Dom is the killer.
The third novel in the Cat Austen mysteries, CHEAT THE DEVIL, is a fun addition to the warm series. The secondary characters including Cat's six siblings, mother, and two children are all wonderful protagonists who add much to the story line, just like they did in the previous two novels (DEATH OF A DJ and FRUITCAKE). The who-done-it is very intriguing, but it is the Austen extended family that makes Jane Rubino's story go down the right way.
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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