Review: Murder in a Basket

Murder In A Basket by Amanda Flower is the second book in the “India Hayes” mystery series. Publisher: Five Star Publishing, February 2012

College librarian and struggling artist India Hayes isn’t sure how her older sister Carmen talked her into managing a face-painting booth at the Stripling, Ohio, Founders’ Day Festival or how Carmen convinced her to wear the pink gingham pioneer dress, including mobcap and granny boots, but that’s where she finds herself in a chilly October just before Halloween. India’s annoyance turns to suspicion as she discovers the body of Zen-like basket weaver, Tess Ross, on the festival grounds. Tess leaves behind an angry blacksmith husband, a confused adopted son, greedy siblings, a dysfunctional artists’ co-op, and a chocolate-colored labradoodle with a two-million-dollar trust in his name. Much to India’s dismay, she learns Tess is the sister of her stuffy college provost, Samuel Lepcheck, and the mother of a library student worker, Derek, who has an irrepressible crush on India that she’s doing her best to ignore. Derek begs India to investigate his mother’s murder. Despite the urgings of handsome Police Detective Rick Mains to stay out of the investigation, India agrees to Derek’s request and finds herself playing sleuth as well as foster-owner to Zacchaeus, the two-million-dollar labradoodle. With her own eccentric family commenting from the sidelines and her Irish-centric landlady, Ina Carroll, as volunteer sidekick, India must discover the truth before she has a permanent canine houseguest or she ends up the next victim in the basket weaver’s murder.

What a fun read. Humor surrounds India as she investigates the murder of a local craft artist. Along for the ride are members of her family with overbearing Carmen and her civic-minded parents. Ina, her neighbor, lends a hand to the investigation in a way only Ina can. The author did a good job of stringing me along as to the identity of the killer. The witty conversations and the supporting cast of eccentrically quirky characters were delightfully entertaining in this fast-moving mystery and with that ending; I can’t wait for the next book in this wonderful series.

--Dru Ann

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