"The Painted Lady" by Peter Abresch is a mystery about a retired couple (over 62) who travels on vacations called "Elderhostels." I've never heard the term... and learned that in 2009 the 34-year-old educational travel organization changed its name to Exploritas, a combination of the words 'explore' and 'veritas,' to promote their mission of pursuing “adventures in lifelong learning." As for the book, it was a fun read. Today's blog has my review.
My Review: Main characters James P. Dandy and his girlfriend Dodee Swisher (a semi-retired artist), have joined their retiree tour group of the old Santa Fe Trail starting in Denver and down into New Mexico. The book starts quickly with the death of an Indian medicine woman, who falls from a rooftop. Jim witnesses the fall, and before long a variety of mysterious characters are dogging him. To make matters worse, the medicine woman's image keeps showing up in Dodee's paintings. PAINTED LADY is light-hearted. You can tell the author was in his 60s or so when he wrote it, because he brings the characters to life. The author also does a great job bringing in U.S. western history (I recognized several places he described) throughout. There's also a legendary Mayan artifact, a kidnapping, a crazy bus-car chase, a shootout, with a tinge of the paranormal! It was an enjoyable book and a great find.
The author wrote quite a few books, mysteries and poetry. He passed in 2021.
No comments:
Post a Comment