That Missing Piece is Killing Me
An Alice Pepper Lonely Hearts and Puzzle Club Mystery
By Roz Noonan
ISBN 9781496746740
Author’s website: rosalindnoonanbooks.com
Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie
Synopsis:
Since her divorce, librarian Alice Pepper has had to rethink her golden years. Luckily, she’s always fit in with a group of puzzle-obsessed friends in the Oregon town of West Hazel. And when a local lady goes missing, Alice must put her curious mind to work to assemble a picture of the woman’s life—and determine if she’s a runaway wife or a victim of foul play . . .
The owner of a dance and martial arts studio, 63-year-old Michelle Chong is a well-liked fixture in the West Hazel community, despite being married to the famous—and famously temperamental—artist, Lars Olsen. That’s why when she disappears, people don’t blame her for fleeing her dysfunctional marriage. Still, Alice has her suspicions, especially after learning about Lars’ violent past—and current affair.
When Alice receives a custom-made puzzle as a gift, the artwork seems so familiar that she assumes it’s from Lars as an apology for his bad behavior during a recent visit. As she and her friends get to work on it, they’re stymied by a missing piece.
With evidence pointing to Michelle’s disappearance being planned, Alice turns her attention to her own fractured family. But a shocking chain of events, culminating in a brutal murder, makes Alice question if any piece of the past can ever be put to rest . . . (From Goodreads)
Review:
What a great second mystery in this series! I enjoyed it so much that I want to read the first one. Alice Pepper, her family, and her friends are delightful examples that women of a certain age have great value (even when we are invisible) and a child’s curiosity. As the head librarian, Alice has the warmth, personality, sense humor, organizational skills, and wisdom of most successful librarians. The setting is described beautifully, in a suburb of Portland, Oregon, with the joy and crispness of October.
Alice has one ongoing heartache, which is her desire to see her daughter, Lauren, again. Lauren has had many challenges since she was a teenager, and a few years ago, she turned away from her mother. She also left her twin daughters, Taylor and Madison, with Alice.
Several people live at “Alice’s Palace”, including her sister, Violet, and her granddaughter, Taylor. Her friends visit frequently. There is always a jigsaw puzzle in progress, which almost everyone who visits spends time with.
One Wednesday evening, Alice was invited to visit the book club her friends enjoyed at Michelle Chong’s home. They talked about how books and other materials are selected for the library. Michelle owns a martial arts and dance studio, and is married to the famed local artist, Lars Olsen. Lars insisted on giving the book club ladies a tour of his art.
Alice enjoyed getting to know Michelle better, and thought highly of her. That Saturday, Alice and her friends were startled when Michelle did not arrive at the annual Children’s Book Festival. Groups of her students performed, and she never missed being there for them. Alice’s granddaughter, Madison, a rookie cop, arrived as cleanup began. A missing person’s report was filed for Michelle by her husband, who thought his wife may have been kidnapped. The last time she had been seen was early morning of the prior day. Madison wanted to talk with some of Michelle’s friends who helped at the festival.
Madison told Alice, Taylor, and their friends of the voluntary search to be led the next day and everyone agreed to help. The day of the search didn’t go quite as hoped. They did find an enormous clue: Michelle’s car with her handbag, ID, and cell phone inside.
Lars claimed to be too upset to join the search. Alice had good intentions, but she had flashbacks of searching for her own daughter many years ago when Lauren disappeared. She did, however, meet Lars’ old classmate, artist Marco Santino. He helped search, he said, for Michelle’s sake, not for Lars.
The book club ladies were not fond of Lars. Neither was his former art school partner, Santino. He acted pleasant, but underneath, he was cold, calculating, and took delight in belittling Michelle. About twenty years ago, he and two friends at art school were part of an American art movement. The three young men created “Unfiltered Art”, returning to childhood instincts of style and color, some of which he still incorporated in his works. His friends were in the school records, but Lars was not. There was nothing at all of Lars on the East coast or at the art school. He seemed to have popped up in West Haven, an accomplished artist, six years earlier.
Each character is designed with care; several could step from the pages, ready to go on a search or sit back with beverages and a challenging puzzle for a gabfest. My favorite character is Alice; she is kind, loving, willing to help a friend or family member in need, and intuitive when examining the few barely existing clues when searching for Michelle. When they discover a terrible murder, she worked on a step-by-step timeline. She successfully mothered her granddaughters from teens to young adults.
Alice, her family, and friends had discussed several scenarios for what happened to Michelle. They also had several suspects for the murder. When I finally had a top suspect for the murder, I didn’t want it to be that person. I was happy to be wrong, as I liked that person! All solutions were accurate, and the ending was satisfactory. I highly recommend this cozy mystery, and I am looking forward to backing up to read the first one.
