Dog in a Manger, A Gloria Trevisi Mystery

Dog in a Manger, A Gloria Trevisi Mystery
A. R. Grobbo
Double Dragon Publishing
ISBN: 1-55404-392-1
Fiction, Mystery, Crime
Reviewed by Eugen M. Bacon

“I did not come here to write an obituary.”
A pert opening, a waxen corpse and a lost dog (possibly rabid) all bite into Dog in a Manger to plummet into the core of a mystery. Gloria Trevisi is a reporter cum photographer embroiled in nothing simple or sensible. She is caught in a static little town not ready for change, a place where flustered doctors (following a certain editorial) make headline news. But, once more, in the insipid capsule of her world, she finds herself elbow deep in an impossible mission of isolating killers from victims. Naturally, it is not an easy task when a marriage is running away and a hoax caller is brewing more than nuisance with deadly threats. But is it a prankster simply wanting to scare her off certain truths, or is it one hard assed killer goading a brand new victim before a grizzly end?
Gloria tries to reconcile herself to the frustration of Tony, concert violinist husband hardly around, a man whose rare visits home only touch upon a fragment of her longing, but shipments of classy pianos half her living room size are no large consolation. With only her cats to turn to, murder solving becomes more than a lucrative alternative. Who killed old man McIvor?
A.R. Grobbo retains her touch of humor; less is more, and writing floats. The novel could have been slimmer, more taut, but has ample adventure to culminate in a notable twist.