Diedre Quinn, Country Vet, to the Rescue
Written: Apr 26 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Light reading, interesting lead character
Cons: The resolution of the mystery is somewhat confusing
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| Rocketgirl's Full Review: Dr. Nightingale Races the Outlaw Colt |
This book is one in a series by Lydia Adamson, that feature Dr. Deidre Quinn (Didi) Nightengale, a country veterinarian in upstate New York. Of course I wondered about the title right away and that's what made me pick up this book from the library. I found out that the "outlaw" colt has really nothing to do with the story, except that Didi sees a wild horse in an area in which she knows there are none. It is only a mystery where the colt came from, which is revealed at the end of the story, but it really has nothing to do with the main plot.
This is the first of the Dr. Nightengale stories I have read. I liked the fact that the female "detective," is not a detective at all, but a country veterinarian. She loves her cows and horses. She just somehow keeps getting tangled up in mysteries. Her best friend Rose helps her out in her quest for the answer. Her love interest, Albert Voegler, is the town's leading police detective.
The mystery starts when Didi, Albert, and Albert's partner Wynton Chung stop by a local dance club for some drinks and dancing. As Didi walks outside to dance with Wynton, Wynton is gunned down by an unseen assailant. Albert goes off the deep end trying to find clues and even assaults a female witness. While suspended from the police force, Albert talks Didi into doing some detecting for him. Didi gets drawn deeper and deeper into the story until finally her life is at risk. Two other people die before the mystery is finally resolved.
Unlike some other "light mysteries" that I have read lately, a much larger percentage of this book is devoted to the main mystery. There are many twists and turns and many clues, some of which lead to nowhere and some of which lead to something but the reader doesn't know what. The locale of upstate New York is a different location than your typical mystery. In a way, it had the ambience of the James Herriot books.
One thing that I did not like is a side plot involving Charlie Gravis, Didi's elderly assistant. He meets a woman that he really likes, who is a confirmed Buddhist. He goes off the deep end trying to please her and only winds up looking crazy and feeling totally embarrassed. This little subplot might have been okay if it had been humorous or at least tied back into the plot just a little, but it really didn't. It just seemed like a road block to getting on with the story.
The closing of the book ties up all the loose ends. The mystery is solved, Charlie comes home, the "outlaw colt" is found, and Albert and Didi make up. However, the scheme interrupted by the police was somewhat confusing. I had a hard time connecting the scheme with some of the players. Some of the players had only been mentioned once and never again--this is good in a way since you would never suspect them. On the other hand, they seemed so peripheral, I was left scratching my head a little bit.
Though there were a couple things I didn't like about the book, I will probably read others by this author. It is light reading, entertaining, and (against the current trend of 400+ pages) mercifully short, only about 220 pages.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Rocketgirl
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Member: Beth
Location: Tri-Cities, WA
Reviews written: 398
Trusted by: 225 members
About Me:
So many books, so little time.
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