Hit and Run

Great new series by Sandra Balzo!

Hit and Run: A Main Street Murders Mystery By Sandra Balzo Severn House September 2014 Review by Cynthia Chow

If Dickens Hart intended to get himself murdered, then his plan to invite both his possible unknown progeny as well as their mothers to spend Thanksgiving weekend with him and possibly include them in his will, succeeds perfectly. Known for being an unapologetic, and exceedingly wealthy, lothario who often dallied amidst the "fawns" of his Playboy-like gentleman club, Dickens has an extensive Black Book list recording his dalliances. This wouldn't be a problem for former Wisconsin reporter AnnaLise Griggs if she hadn't just taken the distasteful, but very well-paying job, of writing Dickens's memoir. Well, that and also only recently discovering that she herself is the first - so far - declared illegitimate daughter and legitimate heir of Dickens Hart.

AnnaLise may consider Dickens to be an amoral egomaniac, but with pressure from both her mother Daisy and her co-mother Phillis "Mama" Ballisteri to protect AnnaLise's rightful position as heir, she finds herself attending the Thanksgiving weekend at her biological father's Sutherton Lake, North Carolina estate. Contenders for inheritance privileges are three possible candidates, their mothers, as well as two of Dickens's former wives. That one of them is Joy Tamarack, AnnaLise's friend who plans to drink through the event as she enjoys the ensuing chaos, ensures that she will make things lively if prove to be less than helpful. Shots through a window herald only the beginning of things to come, and when Dickens inevitably fails to wake up one morning AnnaLise isn't the only one who is certain that he didn't go peacefully. When evidence begins to conveniently point towards AnnaLise even she has to admit that it looks as though someone is trying to push her out of the way if an inheritance that she doesn't want but just learned that she will desperately need.

As the author of Maggy Thorsen coffeehouse mystery series Sandra Balzo can always be counted on for her acerbic wit, sarcastic dialogue, and characters who often display a jaded and sardonic attitude towards life. AnnaLise, who can't help but raise an eyebrow to her bio-father's lifestyle and be exasperated with his excessive list of conquests BV (before vasectomy) and after, is balanced by her very likable mother and even the rather goal-orientated Mama, who cooks in her restaurant foods based on recipes off of the back of cans and boxes. Characters from the two previous Main Street mysteries appear but new readers will have no problem being immersed in this very humorous take on the traditional locked in mystery. Perhaps most enjoyable is that no character is completely unlikable or two-dimensional, and with Dickens's arrogance mostly setting him up to be murdered one feels more sympathy for the murderer than the victim. AnnaLise wields sarcasm like a weapon yet is careful on whom she unleashes her wit, making her a delightfully funny and intelligent heroine. 

I really love this evenly paced and well-executed drama with its comfortable tone and a small town southern atmosphere. This light whodunit was hard to put down, as I had to know who did what to whom in this darling of a mystery. The author did a great job in pulling it all together with a bevy of suspects who could have done the dastardly deed and I was a bit surprise not at who did it, but at how and why it was done. AnnaLise who tries to do the right thing, does a good job at solving this puzzle, is supported by a quirky cast of characters that includes her mother, her mama and her best friend Joy who is an absolute hoot. I look forward to more adventures with AnnaLise in the next book in this delightfully charming series.