Joanna Campbell Slan Reviews (2)

(2009) Cut, Crop and Die

Kiki Lowenstein ‘s job at Time in a Bottle (TinaB) scrapbooking store is all that’s keeping the wolf from her door. So when a woman dies at a store event– and the competition capitalizes on the death to capture market share from TinaB-- our heroine is worried.
 
Her friend and would-be beau, Detective Chad Detweiler, wants her to stay out of his investigation. But he seems to be headed in the wrong firection, focusing on Mert Chambers, Kiki’s best friend, as the possible perpetrator. The obnoxious victim wouldn’t have won a Miss Congeniality contest – so Kiki sees several suspects who are eluding the good detective.

With her husband’s death less than a year earlier, her tenuous relationships with her mother-in-law and Detective Detweiler, and a pre-pubescent daughter who’s morphing into a terrible teen, Kiki has plenty to cope with. But It is she, not Detweiler, who understands the mind of a scrapbooker, making Kiki just the person to find a killer.

When readers ask me about where the good new cozy series are coming from, Joanna Campbell Slan is at the top of my list. Paper, Scissors, Death (Ms. Slan’s first Scrap-N-Craft mystery) was nominated for an Agatha for Best First Novel … and Cut, Crop & Die is a worthy “sophomore” effort. It’s no surprise that the writing is so smooth; after all, the author is an experienced writer of non-fiction. But she also has a knack for creating characters who feel real, who are more than stereotypes, and whom readers can easily care about. Kiki is a cozy heroine who is on a path of self-discovery that will have readers cheering her on. Cut, Crop & Die has developments in the final chapters that will make it difficult for readers to wait for book number three.

By Diana. First published in the Cozy Library August 11, 2009.
 
(2008) Paper, Scissors, Death  (nominated for Agatha Award as Best First Novel)
   
When her husband George dies, Kiki Lowenstein finds herself in dire financial straits. Accustomed to serving on charity fundraising boards, soon she’s needing charity herself. Although George’s autopsy points to heart attack as the cause of death, the circumstances are odd enough to leave unanswered questions – at least in Kiki’s mind.

As she struggles to make a new life for herself and 11-year-old daughter Anya, Kiki taps a surprising reserve of confidence and grit. She’s aided by her friend and former cleaning lady Mert Chambers and Dodie, her tough-as-nails new boss at Time in a Bottle scrapbooking store. As it turns out, Kiki needs all the help she can get when it becomes clear life is not finished throwing her curve-balls.

Joanna Campbell Slan has written several non-fiction books on scrapbooking and journaling and uses that knowledge to expertly weave scrapbooking into the fabric of the Paper, Scissors, Death. Although I wish she had relegated the scrapbooking tips to the back of the book rather than sandwiching them between chapters, Ms. Slan certainly has the authority to give such advice.

Paper, Scissors, Death kicks off a new series of the can’t-put-it-down variety for fans of cozy mysteries. I like so much about Paper, Scissors, Death it’s tough to know where to begin -- but here goes: the writing, the storytelling, the characters. Kiki Lowenstein is the latest addition to my list of favorite sleuths whose began a series with a dramatic life change; Nancy Atherton’s Lori Shepherd, Dorothy Cannell’s Ellie Haskell and Robin Paige’s Kate Ardleigh Sheridan come to mind. All three series/characters are very long-lived and I predict (and am keeping my fingers crossed) that Kiki will join their ranks.

By Diana. First published in Mystery News, October-November 2008 edition.