"DEATH, LIES, AND APPLE PIES"

by Valerie S. Malmont ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1997

Can you imagine? A nuclear waste dump may be the new kid on the block in that apple of God's eye, Lickin Creek, Pennsylvania. Looks like the demonstrators from CANLICK (Citizens Against Nuclear Waste in Lickin Creek) will make it impossible for horror novelist Tori Miracle, visiting from the Big Bad Apple, to keep her mind on her duties as celebrity judge of the Old Fashioned Apple Butter Festival. But then--wouldn't you know it?--rich old Percy Montrose dies suddenly (of aplastic anemia, his benighted physician sniffs) shortly after deciding to sell his land to the dumpers, and it's off to the races for Tori. Well-hated Percy leaves plenty of suspects in his wake--his covetous son Chaz, his wheeler-dealer partners Avory Jenkins and Aldine Schlotterbeck, CANLICK stalwart Greta Gochenauer (the sister of Tori's adorable cop boyfriend), and eccentric herbalist Haggle Aggie Haggard (who tells Tori she knows who killed Percy). In addition to Percy's departure, the canvas is crowded with two subsequent homicides, and with blackmail, incest, drugs, repeated attempts on the heroine's life (and her pets), and of course that horrid nuclear dump. But Malmont (Death Pays the Rose Rent, 1994) continues to make Lickin Creek such a never-never land of Amish heartiness that you know nothing serious will go wrong. Just the thing for readers who need their blood-pressure checked before tackling the rigors of Tamar Myers's comparatively racy Penn Dutch stories.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1997

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1997

Categories: FICTION