Digging Up Otis

May List Mysteries #2

by T. Dawn Richard

Senior sleuth May List returns to the Waning Years Estates to help her friends Fanny, Ida, Grady, and Bob solve the murder of a wayward ex-resident.

Genres: Mystery

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2005

About the author

T. Dawn Richard, author of The May List Mystery Series, hails from Spokane, Washington. Her first book, Death for Dessert , was published in 2003,followed by Digging up Otis , and A Wrinkle in Crime . This year she completed her fourth book in the series, Par for the Corpse . Kirkus Reviews called her "A kind of geriatric Janet Evanovich" because of her quirky senior citizen characters. Her mysteries are humorous, but her main character, amateur sleuth May List, solves serious crimes in her own, bumbling way. Dawn has teamed up with police officers as a means of gathering accurate data for her novels. She also recently finished two screenplays.

Reviews

[Lynn Lerch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another May List mystery this one takes place in the same retirement community as the first book in the series. May is asked to come back by her friends to solve the murder of a community member who is found dead in the swimming pool. Very funny.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A captivating read right from the start with a mixture of humor and mystery!

[Crystal Toller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of how May List comes back to the Waning Years Estate to help her friends discover what has happened to another resident who has disappeared. The mystery was interesting but the ridiculous antics of the seniors was just too much. An okay book but there were a lot of editing errors and the actions of the seniors in some places was just over the top and not realistic.

[Karen Kurth · Rating 5 out of 5]

You’ll laugh out loud at the antics of these geriatric sleuths!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

As long as you are reading for fun and not a believeable storyline, you may enjoy this read.
The characters are goofy and itching for trouble.
They run off without anyone noticing and stick their noses in where they do not belong. They are a danger to society.
Without having read a prior novel in this series, I think I miss some of the reasons why these people are friends.
It has interesting and fun moments.

My biggest dislike was that the most recent addition to this group, who is still a respected professional, would agree to be involved in the main event. If these people were real they should never be allowed anywhere without multiple mature adult escorts. One person could not handle any one of them alone.

[yellowbird · Rating 2 out of 5]

The mysterious death of a philandering, gambling man at a retirement community leads his somewhat elderly acquaintances to play detective in an attempt to solve his murder.

This interesting premise got me to read the book, but the slapstick humor and ridiculous situations really wore me down after a while. I was hoping for something light-hearted and maybe a little ridiculous, but this book was trying so hard to be funny that I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

The mystery itself is fair, and there's a nice twist that made me wonder if I really had identified the right murderer. But in the end, I would have preferred a lighter touch on the comedy.

[Marti · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is obviously part of a series of books about senior citizens fighting crime by solving murders. The idea is good, and the characters themselves are interesting, but in the edition that I read which was printed in 2007 after the initial one in 2005, there are a number of typographical error such as 'Burbur' rug, 'cloth' instead of clothes, and a 'knick' taken out of his ear instead of nick. There were several others, which means that the editor dropped the ball on this one.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise was interesting, and I do love a good madcap mystery, but this was on the verge of being so madcap as to be nonsense. The mystery was fine, the plot reasonable, but the antics of the seniors were too far over the top. Also, the author seemed bent on a mission to tell the world that seniors still have hormonal urges: I didn't need reminded several times a chapter.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suggested by my Mother-In-Law. They call this a Cozy Mystery. I can understand why. There is a murder, but nothing gory or gross. It is about a group of Senior citizens trying to unravel the murder of a friend. Funny in places, and overall, a good book. Not a page turner.

[Melissa S. · Rating 1 out of 5]

well, i just couldn't get into this. I didn't even finish it because of the writing style and slow plot. Guess I'm giving up. Maybe I'll come back after I read all my other bookshelves of books. Sorry Otis.

[Michele · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty dumb plot plus, the author had one character hiding behind "Pompous grass". So much for proofreading.

[Sandy Neal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very light reading! Geriatric friends trying to solve a murder. Humerous.

[Cassie Sanders · Rating 1 out of 5]

donated the book immediately back to the used book store where I purchased it after reading