"Extremely Witty Romantic Suspense"

In MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIE, Marianne Stillings proves that last year's delightful THE DAMSEL IN THIS DRESS was no fluke. The characters, both primary and secondary are delightful, the plot engrossing and the witty dialogue is laugh-out-loud funny.

As the book opens Evie Randall discovers that her mentor and guardian, turgid mystery writer T. E. Heyworth, has left his fortune to one of 3 teams involved in a treasure hunt. To top it off the hunt is also to find clues Heyworth left as to the identity of his murderer.

Evie discovers that she is to be paired with Heyworth's hated stepson , Max Galloway. Evie has never heard anything good about policeman Max, but since he rescues her from a murder attempt before they are formally introduced, she is disposed to give him a chance to prove he is a good guy.

Max Galloway loathed his stepfather and only enters the treasure hunt because the police are on the trail of Heyworth's murderer and he is working as part of the police team . Max's partner goes undercover as one of the treasure hunters and his dialogue with Max is absolutely priceless. The friendship between Max, Nate and McKennitt (the hero of Damsel) is extremely well done. Stillings has a deft hand with male dialogue and these men sound like men.

I also enjoyed Evie's budding friendship with Lorna and their dialogue while they cook--one upping each other with male bashing jokes is hilarious. Since Max and Nate are eavesdropping, when they enter the kitchen they turn the jokes back on the women. It is really enjoyable to have a couple well-grounded in their world, with friends, jobs, families etc. Much too often romance couples seem to exist in some kind of vacuum. I have often wondered why someone would want to fall in love with someone who doesn't have a friend in the world--if someone has no friends there is usually a good reason .

As Evie, Max and the two other teams search for clues to the Treasure hunt it becomes obvious that someone is trying to kill Evie. Max is kept busy trying to protect Evie and hunt for the treasure. The clues they are given are obscure and require reading the horrid prose of the noir mystery writer. Also the plots of Heyworth's different books had me laughing. To say Heyworth lacked imagination is to put it mildly but, the excerpts from his work are fun and the clues are clever. I especially enjoyed the clues that were addressed to Max and Evie or rather "Evie and Dickhead".

While the mystery is engrossing, GOOD AND EVIE is very much a romance. Both Evie and Max are damaged people who are afraid to trust. Evie wants to retreat to Heyworth's island and never leave it, thus avoiding the pain of dealing with other human beings. Max has been raised to believe that women are interchangeable and that falling in love makes you a weakling. While their physical attraction is immediate and sizzling, what really made the book enjoyable was watching this pair lower their barriers and begin to grow up emotionally. This is one happily-ever-after that is completely believable.

GOOD AND EVIE is a winner on all levels and I kept turning the pages to see what would happen next and also what delightful banter Max and Evie would toss out. Their opening conversation where Evie has a swollen tongue is hilarious and their repartee sparkles throughout the book. When Evie discusses well known serial killer Al Bundy, I almost fell off the bed laughing. I could just picture shoe salesman Al, charming women as Ted Bundy did-- NOT!

Good and Evie is going on my keeper shelf next to The Damsel in This Dress. These are books that I will enjoy rereading on a dark and snowy day, just the antidote to gloomy weather--Max and Evie are people you will want to meet again.

Reviewed by Linda Hurst
Posted May 11, 2005