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Benni Harper #5
Dove in the Window
With Fool's Puzzle, Irish Chain, Kansas Troubles, and Goose in the Pond, two-time Agatha Award-nominee Earlene Fowler introduced Benni Harper, the ex-cowgirl of San Celina, whose talent for piecing together quilts is rivaled only by her talent for piecing together clues. Now Benni is sorting out a complicated patchwork of motives that marks someone very close to her as the possible murder suspect of a talented photographer. Once again, Earlene Fowler succeeds in presenting a mystery filled with puzzling twists, delightful atmosphere, and the wit that has made her a favorite among fans.
290 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 1998
35 people are currently reading
396 people want to read
About the author
Earlene Fowler
45 books357 followersEarlene Fowler was raised in La Puente, California, by a Southern mother and a Western father. She lives in Southern California with her husband, Allen, a purple pickup truck, and many pairs of cowboy boots. She is currently working on the next Benni Harper mystery.
Series:
* Benni Harper Mysteries
* Love Mercy Johnson Mystery
Series:
* Benni Harper Mysteries
* Love Mercy Johnson Mystery
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
May 9, 2024
I used to Love these books!
But now they seem preachy. And that husband, I would shoot him in his sleep! Bet you’re glad I Don’t own a gun! lol
The mystery was Excellent, I didn’t expect that solution.
I’m hanging onto the BARD Cassette with books 6 to 9, I might try again.
But now they seem preachy. And that husband, I would shoot him in his sleep! Bet you’re glad I Don’t own a gun! lol
The mystery was Excellent, I didn’t expect that solution.
I’m hanging onto the BARD Cassette with books 6 to 9, I might try again.
February 17, 2013
Book #5 of the Benni Harper series gets the suspects together at the annual Thanksgiving roundup at the Ramsey Ranch. Because there's a women and western art festival going on in town, some women artists are also invited to the ranch to observe and one of them is found dead. Benni tries hard to stay out of the investigation but is unable to do so because if she did, there wouldn't be a story. These are fun, fast reads that have fun characters, some arts & crafts, some mystery, and a dangerous situation for the heroine. The characters are evolving and Grandma Dove gets a love interest as the famous photographer, Isaac Lyons, sweeps into town and catches her eye. Benni is sometimes an annoying character because she predictably does unwise things, but she's like a friend that you warn against a course of action and then have to sit back and watch her do it anyway. So annoying but endearing.
August 12, 2012
I like Earlene Fowler novels which contain a little romance, a little intrigue, a little who-done-it mystery and a lot of close knit family and friends. This was my least favorite of her quilt top books, however. It seemed to me like the whole novel was full of one liners, and cliches. I did enjoy it though, and would probably give it a 3 1/2 if that was possible. Erlene Fowler is a 3 time Agatha Award nominee and her stories make you feel like you are watching the "Murder She Wrote" television show. Her Heroine is Benni Harper, a 30 something ex-cowgirl and quilter but the story doesn't delve into quilting much at all. She is always getting involved in solving the town's murders and getting herself in trouble every time.
February 7, 2014
"Dove In the Window" is a murder mystery set in the small western town of San Celina. Benni Harper is married to the police chief, and can't help but meddle in local mysteries, despite the many criminals, threats, and dangers that come her way. She's like a modern-day, rough on the edges, cowgirl Miss Marple. But it's no Agatha Christie masterpiece. The plot of the book seems like it takes awhile to pick up, and then feels a bit rushed towards the end, but the colorful characters and intimate setting easily make up for it. "Dove in the Window" is a puzzling murder mystery with a refreshing small Western town and big hearted cowgirls and good ol' cowboys that you are bound to fall in love with by the end of the book.
November 20, 2015
I've read this book at least twice now, as I have it in both paperback and on my Kindle. I love visiting San Celina and being with Benni Harper and all her family and friends. The characters are real and there is always more to the story than the mystery in the Benni Harper books. In this book (#5), Benni's grandmother, Dove, develops a love interest. Unlike other popular books (that I enjoy, by the way), there is no interminable love-triangle or non-ending sexual tension to keep your interest. Instead there is the interplay between people over issues of ambition and art. I really love this book--and all the books in the series. There is a chance that in a few years I will revisit it again.
October 18, 2017
The characters are largely realistic in that you want to poke each of them with a sharp stick at least once per book. The mystery seemed almost an afterthought in this one, which works for me in this series.
July 19, 2024
review of
Earlene Fowler's Dove in the Window
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - July 18, 2024
The 1st bk I read by Earlene Fowler was her Fool's Puzzle (my review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ). In my review of that I wrote: "All in all, I enjoyed this & will seek out more Benni Harper mysteries. Her approach to detecting is a relief in contrast to the near-constant brutality of the more hard-boiled crime fiction I read the most. Then again, as far as the actual writing goes, I much prefer that of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, & Patricia Highsmith (to name a few)." That made me want to check out other Benni Harper stories. Not surprisingly, they turned out to be totally formulaic. There're so many similarities between this & Fool's Puzzle that, well, for me, it was annoying.
The Acknowledgments begin:
"No writer writes in a vacuum. Here are those to whom I owe a multitude of thanks:
"For every day, for every word—thank you, Lord Jesus" - p -vi
I was raised a Christian, my mom was a Sunday School teacher, I was in training to be a Sunday School teacher before I rejected it all, my sister was a Missionary, the woman who introduced the man who became my stepfather was a Missionary, his brother (who I never met) was a Military Chaplain. Being surrounded by Christians, I never saw much love or actual morality - instead there was hate & hypocrisy. That isn't why I became an atheist, although it helped make the Christian social milieu repulsive.
One part of Fowler's formula is to have the titles of her bks refer to quilt patterns. I like quilting so that doesn't really bother me.
" Dove in the Window is an intricate star pattern made of primarily diamond shapes that give it a sharp, exacting look. Probably of East Coast origin, the early nineteenth-century pattern in one of its many forms presents a picture suggestive of birds resting beak to beak. " - p -iv
Fool's Puzzle began w/ a humorous family quarrel, Dove in the Window begins w/ a humorous quarrel between Benni & her best friend.
""You sold me?" Elvia shrieked. She slapped her tea cup down into the saucer. "Like one of your cows?"
"I swear one of the kitchen windows rattled.
"My ever-supportive husband's deep and melodious laugh reverberated from the living room of our tiny Spanish-style bungalow. No doubt a smug "I-told-you-so" from a certain chief of police resided in my immediate future." - p 1
In the last novel I read Benni & the police chief weren't married yet so the soap opera has progressed. Fool's Puzzle took place around Thanksgiving time, so does this one.
"Every year since I can remember, my dad, the oldest of the six Ramsey kids, and his mother, my gramma Dove, have hosted a barbecue at the Ramsey Ranch the day after Thanksgiving for all our friends and family. It coincided with our four-day, no-holds-barred-kick-em-in-the-nuts-when-they're-down poker tournament and semiannual calf roundup." - p 5
"Oneeda had multiple sclerosis, and her condition was about as predictable as a renegade cow." - p 21
I know 5 people w/ MS. This bk is from 1998. When I asked online "Has multiple sclerosis increased in the 21st century?" the 1st reply I got was an "AI Overview" - this was explained as "This overview was generated with the help of AI. It’s supported by info from across the web and Google’s Knowledge Graph, a collection of info about people, places, and things. Generative AI is experimental and info quality may vary." The beginning of this reply was:
"Yes, the number of people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) has increased globally in the 21st century:
"Globally In 2016, the age-standardized prevalence of MS was 10.4% higher than in 1990. By 2020, the estimated number of people with MS worldwide had increased to 2.8 million, which is 30% higher than the 2013 estimate.
"In the United States A 2019 study funded by the National MS Society found that almost 1 million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with MS, which is more than double previous estimates. A separate study suggests that the prevalence of MS in the U.S. has been steadily increasing over the past 50 years." I asked this question b/c I tend toward an opinion that some human health deterioration is part & parcel of human lifestyle. In other words, if there's an increase in MS there may be a corresponding increase in some human-created environmental factor that contributes to it.
Benni Harper's rancher family castrates the bulls it doesn't want to be able to inseminate the cows, they have the typical human arrogance that feels that it has the right to determine the genetic future. One of the mama cows is trying to prevent the castration of her son.
""That mama definitely deserves a ten," Olivia said.
"Over the bawling of the calves, the men threw jokes like horeshoes as a couple of them drove each calf down the wooden chute into the Teco cattle squeeze, locked them in the metal cage, and flipped it over to attach the plastic Y-Tex ear tags marked with either my or Daddy's brand. At the same time other men would vaccinate, notch the ear, and castrate if called for, all in perfect synchronization. Cowboy ballet, Dove called it." - p 48
As w/ just about everywhere where Benni Harper (or Father Brown) is someone gets killed. If you took her out of the bk wd everyone be safe?
"I crawled into my childhood bed next to two of my cousin's little girls. I fell asleep, my last thoughts before unconsciousness being about the huge country breakfast we'd all enjoy the next morning.
"The one we'd eventually get around to making when all the crime scene personnel had left." - p 71
Harper runs a folk art co-op & museum. That's another part of the formula. I enjoy that too. Here's one of the artists complaining:
"["]You know what Robert Frost told a person once who asked him what one his poems meant? He said, 'You want me to say it worse?'["]"
[..]
"["]But it's also a lot easier to develop your talent when you don't have to struggle to put boxed macaroni and cheese on the table. Not to mention being able to afford the best paints, brushes, canvases, and framing."" - p 122
Yes, the Art World is a place where Class War is savagely enacted.
"She stared at me over her steaming tea. "To you it's a small thing, Benni, but sometimes the small things are all we can control. I fully expect to be treated like a second-class citizen when I eventually start rubbing elbows with the biggies, but I'd like to have some respect in my local area."
""And you do," I insisted. "He's just trying to make as much from Shelby as he can while her death is still an item of curiosity. It's despicable and certainly straddles the fence of professional integrity, but I still don't think what he does in his little gallery is going to affect you long term."
"She took a long drink of her tea. "It better not. It's just that a lot of important people are going to be looking at his gallery this whole week and him moving me out of the window is humiliating. I guess young and pretty isn't enough these days. You gotta be dead, too."" - pp 164-165
There's plenty of humor, thank clod.
""You are crazy, no doubt about it."
""Now you know that's nothin' if not true. I come from a long, proud line of crazy fools. You know us southern men have to be plumb insane or drunk on homemade bourbon to have voted on goin' to war without a single cannon factory among us."" - p 211
I had to check that one:
Apparently, Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind" made that claim. Online answers vary. One says:
"From April 1861 to April 1865, AB. Reading & Brother manufactured between 45 and 57 field cannons for the Confederate Army. Records indicate that the Story County Cannon was one of those delivered to the Confederate Army in Memphis, Tennessee in December 1861."
- https://www.storycountyiowa.gov/1030/....
If the American Civil War ran from April 12, 1861 to April 9, 1865, then the above quote doesn't demonstrate that the South had cannons before the Civil War started, only during.
Fowler works into the plot what kinds of crime exist in the boonies:
"I sighed. "I don't know Isaac. Like I said, there's also drug labs, toxic waste dumping. I even read recently that they caught some people smuggling counterfeit CDs on a fishing boat in Morro Bay. And I'm sure the Sherriff's Department could tell you even more illegal things that take place out in the boonies. One time Daddy and I were riding fence and way at the back of our property found some rusty leg irons locked to a tree with one old tennis shoe nearby and a bunch of empty pork-and-bean cans. It still makes me shudder to think about what that might have been about."" - p 226
I think it was probably from a future Benni Harper mystery in wch the formulas are broken & Benni travels back in time to make a cameo appearance in an earlier mystery.
Benni gets trapped in a remote restroom wearing a constricting outfit from another era.
"It took me almost five minutes to wrangle around my clothes so that I could use the facilities. I couldn't help but wonder about what women did during the nineteenth-century—not drink at all? I was busy trying to put everything back in place when the lights went out." - p 246
I remember reading once that artistocratic ladies wearing giant skirts w/ bustles & such-like just evacuated their bowels while they were walking - under cover of the skirts. I have no idea of the veracity of that but it amuses me.
The novel ends w/:
"I thought about it for a moment, then answered, "Not as long as I can drive halfway."
"He gave a delighted laugh and tossed me the keys." - p 302
Even tho it's the ending it's not a spoiler, clever, eh? It IS cheesy, tho.
One of the things that endears me to these Benni Harper mysteries, even tho I find the formulaicness bothersome, is that Harper isn't a detective as much as she is just someone who knows many people, is personable, & who, therefore gathers clues just by being sociable. I can relate.
Earlene Fowler's Dove in the Window
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - July 18, 2024
The 1st bk I read by Earlene Fowler was her Fool's Puzzle (my review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ). In my review of that I wrote: "All in all, I enjoyed this & will seek out more Benni Harper mysteries. Her approach to detecting is a relief in contrast to the near-constant brutality of the more hard-boiled crime fiction I read the most. Then again, as far as the actual writing goes, I much prefer that of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, & Patricia Highsmith (to name a few)." That made me want to check out other Benni Harper stories. Not surprisingly, they turned out to be totally formulaic. There're so many similarities between this & Fool's Puzzle that, well, for me, it was annoying.
The Acknowledgments begin:
"No writer writes in a vacuum. Here are those to whom I owe a multitude of thanks:
"For every day, for every word—thank you, Lord Jesus" - p -vi
I was raised a Christian, my mom was a Sunday School teacher, I was in training to be a Sunday School teacher before I rejected it all, my sister was a Missionary, the woman who introduced the man who became my stepfather was a Missionary, his brother (who I never met) was a Military Chaplain. Being surrounded by Christians, I never saw much love or actual morality - instead there was hate & hypocrisy. That isn't why I became an atheist, although it helped make the Christian social milieu repulsive.
One part of Fowler's formula is to have the titles of her bks refer to quilt patterns. I like quilting so that doesn't really bother me.
" Dove in the Window is an intricate star pattern made of primarily diamond shapes that give it a sharp, exacting look. Probably of East Coast origin, the early nineteenth-century pattern in one of its many forms presents a picture suggestive of birds resting beak to beak. " - p -iv
Fool's Puzzle began w/ a humorous family quarrel, Dove in the Window begins w/ a humorous quarrel between Benni & her best friend.
""You sold me?" Elvia shrieked. She slapped her tea cup down into the saucer. "Like one of your cows?"
"I swear one of the kitchen windows rattled.
"My ever-supportive husband's deep and melodious laugh reverberated from the living room of our tiny Spanish-style bungalow. No doubt a smug "I-told-you-so" from a certain chief of police resided in my immediate future." - p 1
In the last novel I read Benni & the police chief weren't married yet so the soap opera has progressed. Fool's Puzzle took place around Thanksgiving time, so does this one.
"Every year since I can remember, my dad, the oldest of the six Ramsey kids, and his mother, my gramma Dove, have hosted a barbecue at the Ramsey Ranch the day after Thanksgiving for all our friends and family. It coincided with our four-day, no-holds-barred-kick-em-in-the-nuts-when-they're-down poker tournament and semiannual calf roundup." - p 5
"Oneeda had multiple sclerosis, and her condition was about as predictable as a renegade cow." - p 21
I know 5 people w/ MS. This bk is from 1998. When I asked online "Has multiple sclerosis increased in the 21st century?" the 1st reply I got was an "AI Overview" - this was explained as "This overview was generated with the help of AI. It’s supported by info from across the web and Google’s Knowledge Graph, a collection of info about people, places, and things. Generative AI is experimental and info quality may vary." The beginning of this reply was:
"Yes, the number of people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) has increased globally in the 21st century:
"Globally In 2016, the age-standardized prevalence of MS was 10.4% higher than in 1990. By 2020, the estimated number of people with MS worldwide had increased to 2.8 million, which is 30% higher than the 2013 estimate.
"In the United States A 2019 study funded by the National MS Society found that almost 1 million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with MS, which is more than double previous estimates. A separate study suggests that the prevalence of MS in the U.S. has been steadily increasing over the past 50 years." I asked this question b/c I tend toward an opinion that some human health deterioration is part & parcel of human lifestyle. In other words, if there's an increase in MS there may be a corresponding increase in some human-created environmental factor that contributes to it.
Benni Harper's rancher family castrates the bulls it doesn't want to be able to inseminate the cows, they have the typical human arrogance that feels that it has the right to determine the genetic future. One of the mama cows is trying to prevent the castration of her son.
""That mama definitely deserves a ten," Olivia said.
"Over the bawling of the calves, the men threw jokes like horeshoes as a couple of them drove each calf down the wooden chute into the Teco cattle squeeze, locked them in the metal cage, and flipped it over to attach the plastic Y-Tex ear tags marked with either my or Daddy's brand. At the same time other men would vaccinate, notch the ear, and castrate if called for, all in perfect synchronization. Cowboy ballet, Dove called it." - p 48
As w/ just about everywhere where Benni Harper (or Father Brown) is someone gets killed. If you took her out of the bk wd everyone be safe?
"I crawled into my childhood bed next to two of my cousin's little girls. I fell asleep, my last thoughts before unconsciousness being about the huge country breakfast we'd all enjoy the next morning.
"The one we'd eventually get around to making when all the crime scene personnel had left." - p 71
Harper runs a folk art co-op & museum. That's another part of the formula. I enjoy that too. Here's one of the artists complaining:
"["]You know what Robert Frost told a person once who asked him what one his poems meant? He said, 'You want me to say it worse?'["]"
[..]
"["]But it's also a lot easier to develop your talent when you don't have to struggle to put boxed macaroni and cheese on the table. Not to mention being able to afford the best paints, brushes, canvases, and framing."" - p 122
Yes, the Art World is a place where Class War is savagely enacted.
"She stared at me over her steaming tea. "To you it's a small thing, Benni, but sometimes the small things are all we can control. I fully expect to be treated like a second-class citizen when I eventually start rubbing elbows with the biggies, but I'd like to have some respect in my local area."
""And you do," I insisted. "He's just trying to make as much from Shelby as he can while her death is still an item of curiosity. It's despicable and certainly straddles the fence of professional integrity, but I still don't think what he does in his little gallery is going to affect you long term."
"She took a long drink of her tea. "It better not. It's just that a lot of important people are going to be looking at his gallery this whole week and him moving me out of the window is humiliating. I guess young and pretty isn't enough these days. You gotta be dead, too."" - pp 164-165
There's plenty of humor, thank clod.
""You are crazy, no doubt about it."
""Now you know that's nothin' if not true. I come from a long, proud line of crazy fools. You know us southern men have to be plumb insane or drunk on homemade bourbon to have voted on goin' to war without a single cannon factory among us."" - p 211
I had to check that one:
Apparently, Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind" made that claim. Online answers vary. One says:
"From April 1861 to April 1865, AB. Reading & Brother manufactured between 45 and 57 field cannons for the Confederate Army. Records indicate that the Story County Cannon was one of those delivered to the Confederate Army in Memphis, Tennessee in December 1861."
- https://www.storycountyiowa.gov/1030/....
If the American Civil War ran from April 12, 1861 to April 9, 1865, then the above quote doesn't demonstrate that the South had cannons before the Civil War started, only during.
Fowler works into the plot what kinds of crime exist in the boonies:
"I sighed. "I don't know Isaac. Like I said, there's also drug labs, toxic waste dumping. I even read recently that they caught some people smuggling counterfeit CDs on a fishing boat in Morro Bay. And I'm sure the Sherriff's Department could tell you even more illegal things that take place out in the boonies. One time Daddy and I were riding fence and way at the back of our property found some rusty leg irons locked to a tree with one old tennis shoe nearby and a bunch of empty pork-and-bean cans. It still makes me shudder to think about what that might have been about."" - p 226
I think it was probably from a future Benni Harper mystery in wch the formulas are broken & Benni travels back in time to make a cameo appearance in an earlier mystery.
Benni gets trapped in a remote restroom wearing a constricting outfit from another era.
"It took me almost five minutes to wrangle around my clothes so that I could use the facilities. I couldn't help but wonder about what women did during the nineteenth-century—not drink at all? I was busy trying to put everything back in place when the lights went out." - p 246
I remember reading once that artistocratic ladies wearing giant skirts w/ bustles & such-like just evacuated their bowels while they were walking - under cover of the skirts. I have no idea of the veracity of that but it amuses me.
The novel ends w/:
"I thought about it for a moment, then answered, "Not as long as I can drive halfway."
"He gave a delighted laugh and tossed me the keys." - p 302
Even tho it's the ending it's not a spoiler, clever, eh? It IS cheesy, tho.
One of the things that endears me to these Benni Harper mysteries, even tho I find the formulaicness bothersome, is that Harper isn't a detective as much as she is just someone who knows many people, is personable, & who, therefore gathers clues just by being sociable. I can relate.
April 8, 2016
Benni Harper, as the protagonist of what one guesses should be called a “cozy” series (amateur sleuth, usually female, prone more to intellectual and instinctual investigation that physical confrontation), couldn’t avoid a crime scene if she tried. This time, the crime scene is thrust upon her and no matter how she would like to stay out of it, she feels an obligation—to duty and to her ability to give up a significant grieving in her emotional life—to keep probing around the edges as though the mystery is an egg stuck to a skillet when one is still trying to save the yolk. Earlene Fowler has a tremendous ability to turn her fictionalized San Luis Obispo (San Celina in the novels) into a sleepier little town than I remember it being.
Of course, the fictional town seems almost as full of murders as modern Chicago. In the series of novels, the per capita homicide might even surpass that of Chicago. This time, the problems encountered by Benni involve her former brother-in-law, her late husband’s sibling, and a celebration called “Heritage Days” with all sorts of events to support local charities. Interesting! Your friendly neighborhood reviewer marched in the La Fiesta Days parade in San Luis Obispo and that parade was part of a celebration to help support the historic Mission San Luis Obispo for which the town was named. So, this novel resonated in ways that it might not for the average reader.
San Luis Obispo is not a bucolic town by any stretch of the imagination, but there are vineyards and ranches all around it. San Celina is also surrounded by vineyards and ranches, but the descriptions are far more rural than how one would describe the real Central Coastal town. This mystery probably fools the reader on a couple of occasions. As one narrows the list of suspects and recognizes the obvious red herrings, there is a tendency to focus on the right idea but end up with the wrong culprit.
For those interested in the romantic interest(s) of the series, Fowler introduces her cousin Emory (who played a significant role in the antecedent title in the series). Benni had made him a promise she couldn’t possibly keep (could she?) and the attempt to fulfill that promise brings the most romantic tension one can remember since Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepherd played off their characters’ sexual tension in the Moonlighting television show. This is a nice touch since it leaves Benni free to build a more mature and solider relationship with her new husband, the police chief. The sub-plot as to whether Benni is over her former marriage is also part of the suspense—even though one can easily anticipate the result. Let’s just say that it was appropriate and bodes well for future “episodes,” unlike the Moonlighting episode for which everyone was waiting.
There are mysterious characters, sordid secrets, action scenes (more than usually expected in a “cozy”), and heartfelt moments. For anyone who has enjoyed these mysteries before, Dove in the Window will be a five-star return to San Celina. Yet, Fowler builds and matures her characters so wonderfully that it might be a three-star visit for those who would pick this up first.
Of course, the fictional town seems almost as full of murders as modern Chicago. In the series of novels, the per capita homicide might even surpass that of Chicago. This time, the problems encountered by Benni involve her former brother-in-law, her late husband’s sibling, and a celebration called “Heritage Days” with all sorts of events to support local charities. Interesting! Your friendly neighborhood reviewer marched in the La Fiesta Days parade in San Luis Obispo and that parade was part of a celebration to help support the historic Mission San Luis Obispo for which the town was named. So, this novel resonated in ways that it might not for the average reader.
San Luis Obispo is not a bucolic town by any stretch of the imagination, but there are vineyards and ranches all around it. San Celina is also surrounded by vineyards and ranches, but the descriptions are far more rural than how one would describe the real Central Coastal town. This mystery probably fools the reader on a couple of occasions. As one narrows the list of suspects and recognizes the obvious red herrings, there is a tendency to focus on the right idea but end up with the wrong culprit.
For those interested in the romantic interest(s) of the series, Fowler introduces her cousin Emory (who played a significant role in the antecedent title in the series). Benni had made him a promise she couldn’t possibly keep (could she?) and the attempt to fulfill that promise brings the most romantic tension one can remember since Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepherd played off their characters’ sexual tension in the Moonlighting television show. This is a nice touch since it leaves Benni free to build a more mature and solider relationship with her new husband, the police chief. The sub-plot as to whether Benni is over her former marriage is also part of the suspense—even though one can easily anticipate the result. Let’s just say that it was appropriate and bodes well for future “episodes,” unlike the Moonlighting episode for which everyone was waiting.
There are mysterious characters, sordid secrets, action scenes (more than usually expected in a “cozy”), and heartfelt moments. For anyone who has enjoyed these mysteries before, Dove in the Window will be a five-star return to San Celina. Yet, Fowler builds and matures her characters so wonderfully that it might be a three-star visit for those who would pick this up first.
September 11, 2015
In diesem fünften Buch steht das große Heritage Days Fest in San Celina bevor und Benni hat daher viel Arbeit mit ihrem Museum. Außerdem steht auf der Ranch der Ramseys aus diesem Anlass eine große Feier bevor, zu der alle Familienmitglieder, Freunde und Bekannte eingeladen sind. So auch Bennis Ex-Schwager Wade, der Benni grollt, dass sie so schnell nach dem Tod seines Bruders wieder geheiratet hat und daher auch ständig mit Gabe aneckt. Auch eine der Künstlerinnen, die Fotografin Shelby sorgt für Wirbel mit ihrem Liebesleben und so ist die Aufregung groß, als am Morgen nach dem großen Barbecue ihre Leiche gefunden wird und sehr schnell Wade als Hauptverdächtiger gilt.
Es ist einfach immer wieder ein wunderschönes und kurzweiliges Vergnügen, diese Ausflüge ins Leben der sympathischen Benni Harper. Auch hier ermittelt sie natürlich wieder auf eigene Faust - Ehrensache, wo doch ihre Grandma die Leiche entdeckt hat, und das auch noch auf dem Boden der Familienranch. Und natürlich ist auch hier wieder viel Ärger vorprogrammiert weil Gabe es hasst, wenn seine Frau sich in seine Ermittlungen einmischt. Außerdem kommen auch noch die Spannungen durch das Auftauchen von Wade dazu, der immer wieder mit bösen Sprüchen Gabe und Benni provoziert und die Lage dadurch nicht besser macht. Sehr schön finde ich, dass man endlich Bennis geliebten Cousin Emory näher kennenlernen darf, der in den Vorgängerbänden per Telefon die ein oder andere Recherche für Benni gemacht hat und der eine Schwäche für ihre beste Freundin Elvia hat. Ich habe mich gut amüsiert über den liebeskranken Emory, dem die schöne Elvia die kalte Schulter zeigt. Außerdem ist da noch der bekannte Fotograf Isaac, der plötzlich auftaucht und Grandma Dove schöne Augen macht - was Benni mehr als argwöhnisch beobachtet und was ihr gar nicht gefällt.
Alles in allem wieder ein solider Krimi mit einer schönen Geschichte aus Benni Harpers Leben drumherum gepackt und man muss diese Reihe einfach lieben. Großartige Charaktere und eine solide Handlung - sehr schade, dass diese Reihe nur immer sporadisch und unvollständig übersetzt und veröffentlicht wurde.
Es ist einfach immer wieder ein wunderschönes und kurzweiliges Vergnügen, diese Ausflüge ins Leben der sympathischen Benni Harper. Auch hier ermittelt sie natürlich wieder auf eigene Faust - Ehrensache, wo doch ihre Grandma die Leiche entdeckt hat, und das auch noch auf dem Boden der Familienranch. Und natürlich ist auch hier wieder viel Ärger vorprogrammiert weil Gabe es hasst, wenn seine Frau sich in seine Ermittlungen einmischt. Außerdem kommen auch noch die Spannungen durch das Auftauchen von Wade dazu, der immer wieder mit bösen Sprüchen Gabe und Benni provoziert und die Lage dadurch nicht besser macht. Sehr schön finde ich, dass man endlich Bennis geliebten Cousin Emory näher kennenlernen darf, der in den Vorgängerbänden per Telefon die ein oder andere Recherche für Benni gemacht hat und der eine Schwäche für ihre beste Freundin Elvia hat. Ich habe mich gut amüsiert über den liebeskranken Emory, dem die schöne Elvia die kalte Schulter zeigt. Außerdem ist da noch der bekannte Fotograf Isaac, der plötzlich auftaucht und Grandma Dove schöne Augen macht - was Benni mehr als argwöhnisch beobachtet und was ihr gar nicht gefällt.
Alles in allem wieder ein solider Krimi mit einer schönen Geschichte aus Benni Harpers Leben drumherum gepackt und man muss diese Reihe einfach lieben. Großartige Charaktere und eine solide Handlung - sehr schade, dass diese Reihe nur immer sporadisch und unvollständig übersetzt und veröffentlicht wurde.
August 23, 2013
F/M Benni Harper Ortiz who has lived on a California ranch all of her life, is an organizer of her town’s Heritage Festival combined with celebration of Western women artists. Her second husband of 2 years is the chief of police of the town. Her grandparents own a cattle ranch just outside of town and are hosting the town, plus a family reunion for a barbque and calf branding, a family tradition. Her first husband’s brother, Wade, from Tx and her step cousin, Emory,from AR unexpectantly show up. She regrets Wade’s appearance since he is a immature, recently divorce non relation, yet for the sake of her dead husband, whom Wade very much resembles in looks, she tolerates him. Emory, on the other hand is someone that she had been close to since childhood. That evening, a young female artist, Shelby, asks for advice regarding what to do when you have a friend who is doing something illegal. Benni is reluctant to give advice, because of her husband’s position, but when pressed tells her that she would confront the friend before reporting it. That night Shelby is found dead. Wade is a prime suspect. Benni has a history of being a sleuth, and is committed to make sure that he is not railroaded. The investigation is outside of her husband’s jurisdiction. Soon Shelby’s “adoptive” grandparent, a famous Western artist, arrives on the scene. Then Shelby’s boyfriend, Kip, is found dead, shortly after being in a drunken brawl with Wade. The action is slow moving and tedious. Another female artist, a long time resident of the area, is discovered via Shelby’s photographs, of being a cattle rustler in order to support her art work artwork by providing a much needed income. When found out, she kills herself.
July 11, 2017
This was the third book I've read recently having to do with art (the first two being Wash, Fold, and Die and The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft, so that was an interesting coincidence. Anyway, this one took a while to get going (the first chapter was well on 30 pages, and introduced the Heritage Festival around which all the events take place), but it was a well-crafted story.
November 7, 2013
Book 5 in the Benni Harper series
Shelby is a freelance photographer who is a member of the artist's co-op where Benni works. Shelby ends up dead due to blunt force trauma to the back of her head. Since her body was found outside, is it murder or an accident?
Greer, another artist at the co-op, is the one who "accidentally" murders Shelby. Shelby had taken some photos of farm life for a book she was compiling. Some of the photos shows Greer's pickup truck and trailer loading up cattle belonging to another rancher. Greer would then sell the cattle to get money for her ranch upkeep. She was fighting with Shelby and pushed her. Shelby fell on a rock and died.
Shelby is a freelance photographer who is a member of the artist's co-op where Benni works. Shelby ends up dead due to blunt force trauma to the back of her head. Since her body was found outside, is it murder or an accident?
Greer, another artist at the co-op, is the one who "accidentally" murders Shelby. Shelby had taken some photos of farm life for a book she was compiling. Some of the photos shows Greer's pickup truck and trailer loading up cattle belonging to another rancher. Greer would then sell the cattle to get money for her ranch upkeep. She was fighting with Shelby and pushed her. Shelby fell on a rock and died.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 29, 2011
One of my favorite series as it mixes characters, a little murder, a little art, and it is based in an imaginary city that is modeled after my place of birth. This is a great part of California and it heightens my enjoyment of the books. Benni is great, a survivor who marries a man who has also had his troubles and the two learn to trust and love and find joy in the world while fighting crime. Of all the supporting characters her grandmother Dove is the most heartwarming, not only does she take care of everything and everyone-she falls in love herself, a reminder that the elderly ain't dead!
August 3, 2017
Benni has been happily married to Chief Ortiz of the San Celina, CA. police force. Benni’s family has a large ranch just outside of town. Where there is a huge gathering of friends and family for the Thanksgiving holiday and the town arts/crafts fair the next week. However, a young girl is murdered on the ranch and Benni’s former brother-in-law, Wade, is suspected of being the murderer (her first husband died in a car crash.) Benni can’t help but try to prove his innocence. --- This one is not quite as good as the other books in the series.
September 2, 2011
I was going to skip this one, but I ended up re-reading it anyway. I liked the addition of Emory and Isaac Lyons to the characters and again enjoyed the interaction between Benni and Gabe more then the story. Benni always seems to be in charge of some festival or another...I swear that town must have a festival every other week the way these books are written..definitely at least once a month which seems a little excessive to me, but I guess it's a plot theme that the author enjoys.
April 10, 2018
Reread April 2013, November 2014 as I reread my way through the Benni Harper series. This is one of my favorite books, as it introduces some of my favorite characters in the series, such as Emory, Isaac, and D-Daddy Boudroux, and we see a lot of other characters I love, like Elvia and Dove.
This series is all about the characters to me, the mystery is almost secondary since i'm rereading and know who did it.
This series is all about the characters to me, the mystery is almost secondary since i'm rereading and know who did it.
May 12, 2016
With a young artist killed on her family's ranch and one of her relatives suspected, cow-girl and museum curator Benni Harper sets out to find who the person was that cut down the life of the rising artist. I really enjoy the Benni Harper mystery series. Benni is interesting and likable and so are the storylines and characters, plus it is interesting to see what life is like on a Western California ranch. I'm looking forward to the next book.
June 25, 2016
During a family reunion, a up and coming young photographer, Shelby, is found dead on the ranch. Is it Wade, her former brother in law, who committed the crime? Benni believes he is innocent and sets out to find the killer. Did Shelby leave a big clue behind.
Fill of twists and turns and lovely exchanges between Benni and her chief of police husband. I enjoy this series after reading a heavy "novel." The mysteries are entertaining as well written.
Fill of twists and turns and lovely exchanges between Benni and her chief of police husband. I enjoy this series after reading a heavy "novel." The mysteries are entertaining as well written.
August 15, 2010
My notes indicate this is 302 page book published in 1998. Homey dialog paints rich descriptions in this episode in "Benni Harper's" life. The backstory conflict centers around Dove, Isaac is introduced for the first time. Greed and panic were the driving forces behind the main storyline. I always recommend Earlene Fowler. . . fast, fun, involving reads. Always.
October 21, 2011
The more I read this series, the more I really like it. I found some of the elements in the story to be predictable, but it didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of this book. I genuinely enjoy watching the character development and I look forward to seeing what will happen with Elvia's love life from here. Now I just have to wait for Mariner's compass to arrive! :)
August 25, 2012
I love these Benni Harper mysteries. They are always a fun fast read. I sometime think I have the mystery solved, then I doubt it, then it turns out I was right after all. FUN!!!
Earlene Fowler builds her character, you feel like they are real people you could be friends with. I hope I never get as involved in actual murders though, as Benni Harper does!!!
Earlene Fowler builds her character, you feel like they are real people you could be friends with. I hope I never get as involved in actual murders though, as Benni Harper does!!!
January 2, 2009
If you like one Benni Harper Mystery, you'll like 'em all. This offering not only leads us on a new murder mystery for our quilting sleuth, but also introduces the lovable Isaac Lyons to the growing population of San Celina.
April 3, 2020
When photographer Shelby Johnson is murdered during the San Celina, California, Heritage Days celebration, her friend Benni Harper, dedicated quilter, rancher turned museum curator, and new wife of Police Chief Gabe Ortiz, searches for the killer.
December 2, 2009
I actually enjoyed this and picked it up randomly from the library. Very true to the traditional mystery style but with developed characters that are often lost in other mystery novels. Quick and easy read.
February 17, 2011
As book five in the series, Dove in the Window was as fun and exciting to read as book one. Earlene Fowler continues to offer surprises and twists in plot and character development. Can't wait to read book six.
July 29, 2011
This continues to go well. The writing is not at a high caliber but it is pleasant. I like the quilt references, and Benni Harper is good--sometimes I find her a little annoying but she is largely a good character
March 19, 2014
#5 in the Benni Harper series was one of my favorites to date, as it deals not only with murder and quilting, but with insights on art and artists and what they face on a day to day basis. Usually these series start to peter out around this time, but so far, so good.
November 13, 2016
What I enjoy most about this series is the often volatle relationship between the Benni and Gabe. Supporting characters are also developing their unique personalities, which makes the plot even more interesting. Earlene Fowler, keep writing and I'll keep reading!
November 15, 2017
Benni Harper #5
November 26, 2007
I've read most of the Benni Harper series. I really like the books. If you like a mystery,quilting, museums, human interest you love this series.
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