Elaine Flinn's second book in her antique mystery series is even better than the first! "Tagged for Murder" (love the title) again features antique dealer, Molly Doyle, as she continues to rebuild her reputation in the posh community of affluent Carmel, CA.
Mayhem erupts when local antique dealer, Trudy Collins, abruptly dies from an apparent heart attack at the Carmel Antiques Show. When Molly's sister, Carrie, suddenly arrives that day with her daughter after a 15-year estrangement, Molly once again fears her sister is being deceitful. Carrie swiftly and unceremoniously leaves her daughter, Emma, with Molly and takes off to pursue a "legal career" overseas.
As fake antiques and additional murders begin to surface, Molly attempts to piece together who is behind these acts - against her better judgment and certainly against the wishes of Police Chief Randall. The result is a great mystery and terrific development of wonderful characters.
Flinn has a wonderful series going! The dialogue is written in a realistic manner as to the verbiage that individuals actually use. Any "dangling participles" are included to make the conversations realistic and engrossing as, let's face it, most speech patterns and dialogues are not always in complete grammatical sentences. To change this would change the whole rhythm of the characters.
The addition of Emma was absolutely brilliant! This kid brings such a new dimension to Molly and others. I thought that Flinn VERY ACCURATELY AND REALISTICALLY did not have Emma enrolled in school. Only about 2-3 weeks have elapsed (not months!) and Molly has started the legal process to have Em remain with her. She has arranged for a tutor, but for Molly to enroll Em in school, only days after being abandoned by her mother and before any decisions were made by the State, WOULD have been unrealistic.
Likewise, Molly's relationship with Chief Randall is currently being defined. Randall cares greatly for Molly, but sternly masks his fear as he is trying to rein Molly in when she insists on putting her life in jeopardy. From the first book, "Dealing With Murder," we have learned that Randall is often jaded and rather acerbic in nature- as is Molly at times. Randall gives Molly a difficult time as she KNOWINGLY hides evidence that she wants to look over. Good grief - the argument that she gives Randall about "forgetting about certain evidence" is an excuse that they both realize is fabricated. However, she can't very well say, "Randall, here is the evidence that I deliberately withheld from you while I attempted to discern how involved my sister is in this matter!"
And finally, Molly's sister has not been arrested because she is out of the country. They have just that night discovered the extent of her involvement. Although the next book may indicate that she may be extradited back to the States for trial, law and customs officials may "have bigger fish to fry" and not pursue it.
"Tagged for Murder" is a wonderful new series and I greatly anticipate the next book by Elaine Flinn!
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