Category: Mystery/Suspense Publisher: Five Star Publishing
ISBN-10: 1594147590
Type: Fiction
Copyright: May 15, 2009
ISBN-13: 9781594147593
The second in the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series, titled To Hell in a Handbasket, is set in Breckenridge, CO, where Claire and her family go on a ski vacation a couple of months after the events in A Real Basket Case. The vacation quickly goes to hell in a handbasket when the sister of her daughter’s boyfriend is killed on the slope.
In this sequel to A Real Basket Case, Colorado Springs gift basket designer Claire Hanover takes a spring ski vacation in Breckenridge, Colorado, with her family. The vacation quickly goes to hell in a handbasket when the sister of her daughter’s boyfriend’ is killed on the ski slope. Others think an out-of-control snowboarder slammed into her, but just before the ski patrol arrived, Claire saw another pair of ski tracks that veered into the young woman’s. Claire passes her findings on to an initially skeptical sheriff’s detective. Confusing clues point to alternative scenarios for the young woman’s death—which was definitely no accident—and put Claire’s daughter, Judy, in the path of danger. As the spiral of intrigue winds tighter and other deaths occur, Claire must draw on inner reserves of strength to conquer not only the conspiracy but also the winter elements. And, like a mother bear, she must fiercely protect her independent-minded cub from harm.
Professional Reviews
Kirkus Review
A family's ski vacation turns deadly when they find out their social connections are a little more connected than they thought.
All gift-basket designer Claire Hanover (A Real Basket Case, 2007) wants is some quality time with her family, especially daughter Judy, who's been away in Paris for her senior year of college. A ski trip to Breckenridge seems ideal: close enough to their Colorado Springs home for Judy to swing by and do her laundry on the way from the airport, with plenty of opportunity for family bonding as moguls zing past on the upper slopes of Ptarmigan. But willful Judy has more interest in bonding with tall, dark Nick Contino than with Claire, and it's only because Nick and his father Anthony are off skiing the back bowls of Copper Mountain that Judy agrees to spend the day on Peak Eight with her parents and Nick's sister Stephanie. When the two girls start down Ptarmigan's Claimjumper run, Stephanie crashes into a tree, sustaining fatal injuries. Though Judy thinks a showoff snowboarder ran Stephanie off the trail, Claire finds ski tracks leading from the crash site into the woods. Her suspicions grow when the snowboarder, Boyd Naylor, is run down by an SUV with plates similar to Anthony's. The Continos' Russian pal Ivanov, who supplied the vehicle to them in return for unspecified favors, brings out Claire's inner Mama Bear, determined to protect her cub.
Groundwater's second leaves the bunny slope behind, offering some genuine black-diamond thrills.
Gumshoe Review
Claire Hanover, her husband Roger, and daughter Judy, are taking a family vacation to ski and get reacquainted now that Judy's back from Europe and before she returns to college. Judy, however, surprised them when she announced she'd be spending a lot of time with her new boyfriend, Nickolas Contino, and his sister, Stephanie. However, on their first day of skiing, Stephanie is killed in a skiing accident. Claire thinks it's murder. Judy is upset, and her boyfriend's family is devastated. Everyone is more upset when Claire's suspicion of murder is found to be correct.
Claire and her husband are patching up their marriage after some problems that were resolved in the last book. This vacation was supposed to be a chance to spend time with their daughter, Judy, who has been studying in Europe. Claire is disappointed that things aren't going the way she wants them to and is having to readjust her thinking about her daughter. It's time to let go and she's having difficulty with the concept.
After Stephanie's death (Chapter 1) everyone is upset. The consensus is that an out-of-control snowboarder caused Stephanie to crash into a tree, but Claire believes she saw signs of another skier in the area and thinks it may have been deliberate. Judy feels her mother is making everything worse when Stephanie's family is devastated enough by this accident. Claire can't let it alone and when the authorities finally check into her theory, the death is ruled murder.
Groundwater deftly handles the inter-family relationships and emotional baggage that comes from children moving into adulthood. The relationship between mother and daughter must change and the push-pull of these changes is evident in the story but doesn't overwhelm the main plot line.
Judy and Nickolas act as young adults do without considering many of the ramification of their actions. Claire continues to want to be the parent who protects her child from the dangers of the world. Something has to give when Nickolas's sister is the victim of murder. Just who is his family and why would anyone want to kill Stephanie? Claire believes that is key and she's frantic to save Judy from heartache and danger.
How it all plays out makes for an engrossing and entertaining mystery that keeps you reading until the final page. Tightly plotted and very current, the story manages to keep you on the edge of your seat. Even though the physical violence is off screen, the tension comes from the potential danger to the characters you've met and come to be concerned about.
Fort Collins Coloradoan
The wait is over for the second title in the gift basket designer series by notable author Beth Groundwater and her latest whodunit, To Hell In A Handbasket. Groundwater pokes at the usual cozy genre mystery rules by surprising the reader with some spicy turns that only liven up things. For instance, the murder victim usually deserves it. We are actually sorry for the first murder in this plot.
A traditional amateur sleuth is single, hopefully with a love interest and certainly does not have a kid. Groundwater’s Claire Hanover is married with a teenaged daughter and the author pulls it off. Claire Hanover, gift basket designer finds herself in the middle of the Russian Mafia, murder and all sorts of frightening happenings and this is on a so- called family ski vacation where nothing out of the ordinary was supposed to happen.
Groundwater’s first, A Real Basket Case debuted with a 2007 Best First Novel Award. Her page turning style is welcome to any reader looking for a great read.
I’ve just finished reading the second Claire Hanover mystery, and I’d have to say Beth Groundwater’s main character really is strong enough to keep my interest through a whole series. A fascinatingly resourceful amateur detective, with the cleverness of Miss Marple, the sore knees of the middle-aged, and the physical prowess of an empty-nester who plans to keep skiing forever, Claire has the confidence to believe what she sees and to tell it like she sees it. Just because no one else saw the ski tracks doesn’t mean they’re not there. Just because no one else sees the danger doesn’t mean she shouldn’t protect her daughter. Just because…
So she walks into police stations and describes exactly the sort of details that someone unaccustomed to such places would notice—the presence or absence of family photographs, the pictures on the walls… She walks into a night club and learns the right words for the music by making mistakes—okay, so daughter’s embarrassed, but Mom’s taking charge. She leaps into action, rightly earning the nickname Mama Bear. And the reader follows along, all the time amazed and impressed and, if you happen to be me, just plain wishing I were more like her.
I guess Claire’s kind of a niche hero, perfect for us moms with kids fleeing the nest, and ideal for the recipients of gift baskets. She makes me want to ski again. She believes in ibuprofen. She’s real and she’s fun. And she’s more than capable of leaving me eagerly awaiting her next adventure.
Revenge is Fun series. Cameron and Kate unravel twists and turns in this clever crime caper. Kim and Kate pay a visit to Cameron in Los Angeles, but never dream they will go undercover to help crack an ingenious drug money laundering scheme.
