"enjoyable amateur sleuth"

After several continents and years, attorney Amy Brown can no longer deal with the insults and constant firing from her boss at London's Winter, Worthington, and Walker. So when septuagenarian Daniel Blake reads her the riot act, Amy signs a note resigning. She informs her stunned spouse but then learns she is pregnant. Her husband persuades her to beg to get her job back so she will have maternity leave and medical coverage. Amy goes to the office early only to find Daniel dead. She retrieves her note. The police rule Daniel's death an accident from an allergic reaction to eating chocolate with nuts inside them.

Several months later after Amy has given birth and returned to work she notices a sticky note among Daniel's items. The note says "No Nuts"; leading her to conclude that someone deliberately killed Daniel. Though everyone hated him, she wondered who would commit homicide. She asks product safety expert Polly Lawrence for help, as the police seem comfortable with their original conclusion. As the duo investigates, they begin to find other evidence, but a person who has killed before might find the second and third time a lot easier to swallow.

KILLABLE HOURS is an enjoyable amateur sleuth tale starring a delightful female supported by an eccentric expert. The story line is fun though timelines seem off kilter. Still the cast is strong and the plot engages the audience from start to finish so that the audience will know they spent likable hours on Pamela Eddy's pleasant novel.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted September 17, 2002