Book Review: Carreta De La Muerte [Cart of Death]

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

[4 stars]

Carreta De La Muerte [Cart of Death] Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Mari Ulmer
Class/Genre: Mystery Ethnic
Series: Taos Festival # 2
Poisoned Pen, Mar 2001, $23.95, 242 pp.

After her husband died, attorney Christina Garcia y Grant returns to her hometown of Talpa, New Mexico just south of Taos. Talpa is a small community where crime rarely happens and Catholicism is firmly rooted. At times there is a feeling of the mystical in the air. Christy, tired of the law, turns her grandmother's hacienda into a bed and breakfast inn that is gaining in popularity.

While the townsfolk prepare for Las Fiestas holiday, a clever thief systematically steals valuable artifacts from the local churches. Further complicating matters, someone burglarizes a gallery killing an employ with another missing, the girlfriend of Christy's protégé. The B&B owner and her close friends begin their brand of sleuthing in hopes of stopping a crime spree but mostly saving the life of an innocent.

Mari Ulmer creates a story line that often reads like a ballad even though the tale is a regional mystery. The culture of an old fashioned town vividly comes to life in CARRETA DE LA MUERTE. Readers will admire the characters that star in this fresh and unusual series. There are some books that are so memorable they are unforgettable and this is one of them.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner