Crushing Crystal

Jane Stuart and Winky #6

by Evan Marshall

"Another delightful cozy with a congenial cast of diverse characters, a realistic heroine with a vivid sense of humor and a loveable cat!"—Publishers Weekly

“I've read and liked every one of the books in this series. PLEASE WRITE MORE!!” –Karen Goodreads

Literary agent Jane Stuart lives a page-turner when a murderer gives new meaning to the phrase buried in books and girls begin to disappear.

Jane couldn't turn down her nanny's sister when she needed a place to stay. Crystal Ryerson turns out to be more than a handful. In two short weeks as the new assistant director of the Shady Hills Public Library, Crystal proves herself to be trouble no matter how you spell it. A pain. Yes. Popular. No.

SMASHING

Still, it's a shock when at the next meeting of Jane’s book club at The Shady Hills Public Library, book shelves come crashing down and topple on poor Crystal. Who knew reading could be fatal? Detective Stanley Greenberg makes a grim discovery: the bolts on the bookcase had been deliberately removed—by someone who was at the meeting.

Prime suspects line up: Crystal's Realtors, Myrtle Lovesey and Dick Stanton, the recently fired school librarian and more. It’s not as clear cut as that, thinks Jane, who suspects something else is going on. Then the body of a beautiful teenager is found in the woods behind the railroad tracks. She worked at the Library. And then two other girls go missing…

BONUS

This edition contains an excerpt from MISSING MARLENE by Evan Marshall.

REVIEWS OF CRUSHING CRYSTAL

3.63 average rating all editions, 55 ratings, 7 reviews, added by 126 people, 38 to-reads, 87% of people liked it.--Goodreads

3.5 out of 5 stars (10 reviews).--Amazon

“It hooked me enough on a bad day that I spent the better part of the day finishing it.”—Aaron Wallentine, Goodreads

"Pretty good, liked the way they "took out" the busybody!”—Janet, Goodreads

"Engaging...Jane proves a shrewd sleuth."—Publishers Weekly

"Bubblegum for the eyes.....enjoyed it though. Very witty."—Cindy, Goodreads

ABOUT EVAN MARSHALL

Evan Marshall is president of The Evan Marshall Agency and author of The Marshall Plan® For Novel Writing (Writer’s Digest, 1998), an international bestseller on novel writing now in its 20th anniversary edition. He is the author of 10 commercially published mysteries including Manhattan Mysteries and Jane and Winky Suburban Sleuths series, named “Miss Marple Lite” by Kirkus Reviews. His books appeal to fans of Janet Evanovich, Lilian Jackson Braun, Agatha Christie and Alexander McCall Smith. You can reach him at evan@evanmarshallagency.com.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery

247 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2004

About the author

Evan Marshall is president of The Evan Marshall Agency and author of The Marshall Plan For Novel Writing (Writer’s Digest, 1998), an international bestseller on novel writing now in its 20th anniversary edition. He is the author of 10 commercially published mysteries, Manhattan Mysteries Series and Jane & Winky Series which was named “Miss Marple Lite” by Kirkus Reviews. His books appeal to fans of Janet Evanovich, Lilian Jackson Braun, Agatha Christie and Alexander McCall Smith. You can reach him at evan@evanmarshallagency.com.

Reviews

[Jaze Danelver · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is your usual murder mystery whodunnit type of book. Really fun but I feel slightly misled though; Winky the cat is supposedly Jane's partner in solving her crime mysteries however, Winky doesn't really do much here except be a lazy house cat. I thought Winky is supposed to accompany Jane during her investigations and such and help Jane find substantial clues to solve the mystery. It's a good cozy book though.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bubblegum for the eyes.....enjoyed it though. Very witty.

[Diane Large · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just a silly cozy mystery.

[Tracyfromthemermaidcove · Rating 1 out of 5]

She is so rude to her boyfriend. Just couldn’t finished it!

[Pam Michaud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series

[Aaron Wallentine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly little mystery that my mom bought for me based solely on the cover (cute cat looking over a person crushed under a pile of books, which is not really accurate to the story : ) ); it hooked me enough on a bad day that I spent the better part of the day finishing it.

I thought it was odd that (spoiler alert!) in the end, the reason the girls were being abducted was to be sold to a polygamist Mormon community (Colorado City, AZ/Hilldale, UT) -- is that really something that human traffickers do? I would've thought prostitution was the more likely destination ... Not pleasant to discuss, in either case. It just struck me as odd upon reading. (end spoiler).

Also I was bothered by the fact that the main character just chooses to throw her old cat scratching posts in the trash (one of them has just been bought and not really used as the cats didn't like it) without even considering perhaps a more responsible way of passing them on; and that that is treated as the normal and acceptable thing to do. Guess I'm showing my biases there.

The seeming prevalence of live-in household servants was also odd to me, and the fact that the protagonist's is an immigrant from Trinidad. But, it probably just reflects reality, and perhaps it's more common in smalltown New Jersey than what I'm used to; I've never known anyone with servants, let alone live-in servants. Just oddness of life.

Overall it was fun and definitely different than what I'm used to.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the better "cosy mysteries" I've read lately. I liked the lead character and, although she was stubborn enough to get herself into trouble, she wasn't unreasonably reckless. The only disappointment I had with the book was the motive for the abductions.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read and liked every one of the books in this series. PLEASE WRITE MORE!!

[Janet Armentani]

Pretty good, liked they way they "took out" the busybody!

[Jessica Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a very good book and it makes you think

[Barb · Rating 3 out of 5]

surprisingly good - quite charming but a real mystery as well.