"Take care", I said, not knowing what was the appropriate goodbye to your husband's ex-wife who was warning you about his ex-girlfriend. Did Miss Manners have a chapter covering this modern situation?

A cosy mystery set in the small town of San Celina in California ranch country. I haven't read any of this author's other books, but although this book comes somewhere in the the middle of a long series, it does a good job of describing the main character's life and her relationships with friends and family, so I never felt lost. Benni is a keen quilter who works at the local museum and is the wife of the local police chief. Life is busy at the moment as she is involved in preparations for the weddings of both her best friend and her grandmother, and now she has been persuaded to catalogue the contents of some trunks that belonged to a woman who supposedly murdered her husband and ran away with her lover back in the 1940s. Almost immediately Benni decides that Maple Sullivan was innocent of the crime, and begins to investigate, although she is distracted by problems in her own marriage as an ex-lover of Benni's husband is visiting San Celina and seems likely to cause trouble.

Quite enjoyable, although the solution to the mystery was frankly unbelievable. ( )

Well, this one left me wrung out. Great plot about an unsolved cold case dating back to the 40's and WWII, but it's the gut wrenching story of Gabe and Benni that left me feeling the need for comedy at the end. I'm hoping for a bit more levity from the next one. ( )

Gabe Ortiz and Benni Harper both annoyed me this time, although my biggest gripe with this book is what happened after the cold case is solved. Times have changed, it could serve as a lesson, and there are people who are still hurting. Gah!

On the other hand, the unfolding of Maple Sullivan's story was interesting. So was the glimpse into Detective Hudson's past. The shower and wedding preparations were a welcome counterpoint to Benni and Gabe's marital problem. Dove's wild ideas for her own wedding were a comic ribbon twining through the mystery and misery.

Even though we get to see some chapters through Gabe's eyes, I wasn't feeling all that sympathetic toward him. He should have been listening harder to the memory of his late father's voice giving him advice. That's why chapter 24 was my favorite, especially its first page.

Note: my copy has the blue cover with six squares set in diamond shape then forming an 'X' with the smallest diamond above it. The central diamond is the largest and has a statue of a mournful angel on it. The copyright page credits the cover to 'One by Two'. The back flap of the dust jacket gives Ms. Griesbach and Mr. Martucci's names. I e-mailed them. "One by Two Studio" is their partnership name, according to Mr. Martucci.

If your hardcover copy is missing its dustjacket and you're wondering if you have a book club edition, I have a BCE. These are its dimensions in inches: H: 8 & 7/16ths, L: 5 & 5/8ths W: a little over 15/16ths of an inch. ( )

Benni has her hands full planning weddings for her best friend and her
grandmother, but one of the more demanding members of the San Celinas
historical society insists that she be the one to sort and catalog the
contents of three old trunks that belonged to Maple Sullivan, a woman
long believed to have murdered her husband just before she disappeared.
And things get even more complicated when Gabe's gorgeous former
partner and ex-girlfriend arrives in town, apparently determined to pick
things up just where they left off years ago. Faced with a crisis in
her marriage that she cannot fix by herself, Benni allows herself to be
distracted by a cold-file murder case that is over 50 years old.

This book made me mad at the beginning, and made me want to reach into
it and slap the living snot out of both Gabe Ortiz, for being an ass,
and Benni Harper for not doing anything about it. So mad, in fact, that
I was sorely tempted to just stop reading it. But I soldiered on and
finished. I have to say that if I were Benni, I'd have handled things a
tad differently, I think. It was good to see the background story
progress with the weddings, though. Not the best book in the series by
a long shot. ( )

Publishers Weekly Review: In a story sewn together as tightly as a traditional quilt, Agatha Award-winner Fowler delivers superior cozy entertainment in her ninth Benni Harper mystery (after 2001''s Arkansas Traveler). In the California coastal town of San Celina, there are weddings and wished-for weddings, plus the threatened demise of Benni''s two-year marriage to police chief Gabe Ortiz, brought about by the appearance of Gabe''s former female partner, Del Hernandez. Just as Benni doesn''t think she can keep one more plate spinning in her busy life, two crises crop up: first, Del starts deliberately going after Gabe and lets Benni know it; second, Benni is asked to inventory four trunks full of materials possibly related to the decades-old bludgeoning death of wealthy Garvey Sullivan. Though asked only to catalogue the items, Benni becomes fascinated by the potential murder charge against Maple Sullivan, Garvey''s widow. Maple fled before her husband''s body was found, but she''s been found "guilty" in the town''s conscience and gossip ever since. Will Benni solve the old murder? Will her marriage survive the lust of Del Hernandez and the come-ons to herself from an acerbic sheriff''s deputy? Will her best friend, cousin and grandmother all make it to their respective altars, fulfilling the prophecy of the Steps to the Altar quilt made for one couple? The answers to these questions make delicious reading, with plenty of passion, snappy dialogue and a whiz-bang plot. Agent, Ellen Gieger. (Apr. 2) Forecast: Ads in Romantic Times as well as handselling to romance readers could help Fowler expand beyond her core audience. The thematically appropriate quilting jacket art, however, is too busy and doesn''t signal how central romance is to the story. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information. ( )