Jardin Del Diablo, El Book

Elizabeth George has gathered 23 short stories using the motive of lust and greed, two of the Seven deadly Sins. Of these 23, five are by new writers. Many of the other 18 are quite familiar to me, others are not. I'll comment on only a few.

I'll begin with Nancy Pickard's sweet tooth, Dark Chocolate, in which we follow a woman's actions as she bakes, slices, and eats this cake, seven inches high, sloping gently from the center to the edge of the perfect circle. It was hers, all hers. She determines to eat every bite before her husband comes home from work. Pickard gives us reason to believe there are children, but where are they? Is the husband actually coming home? There's some psychological points here, not typical of Pickard's cozy mysteries. Lust and Greed.

I was not familiar with Allison Brennan's work, but her A Capitol Obsession has seduced me to add her to my list. This cozy features John Black, a Sacramento Policeman, and his former lover, Senator Lara James. Together they learn why someone is trying to frame another senator for murder. A satisfying cozy with romance, which has been mandatory in cozy mysteries for the past decade or two. Lust is the sin here.

Elizabeth George's Lynley/Havers series of British cozies are one of my favorite reads. Her Lusting for Jenny, Inverted does not live up to my expectations. More narrative than dialogue and some very long paragraphs failed to capture my interest. The plot is okay - unfulfilled wife leaves home to take care of her aunt's estate, meets younger man who becomes her lover who believes she has access to wealth, they find some items he knows but does not reveal are valuable, she unwittingly destroys the value as she burns her bridges with her husband. Greed is the sin here.

Peggy Hesketh was one of the new writers. My internet search revealed she is now multi-published in short stories and at least one book, so other people don't share my opinion. I couldn't make sense of A Madness of Two. The protagonist digressed into so may rabbit trails I was never quite sure what the story line actually was. I can say it's a family story, but I don't know if they were dealing with lust or with greed, or both.

Ah, but then there's Linda Barnes who couldn't write a bad story if she tried. Her Catch Your Death is typical of her cozy mysteries, although not a Carlotta Carlyle story. We have a serial murderer, but an unexpected plot twist at the end. Definitely greed.

All stories considered, I recommend Two of the Deadliest.