Personal Response: Dead Rapunzel was an amazing crime investigation novel based on a true story. It featured Llewelyn as the chief of the police in Loon Lake, Wisconsin. It really conveyed how it is to investigate a crime in the winters of the midwest.
Plot Summary: An extremely wealthy man named Philip passes away after getting cancer twice. His fortune went to his current wife Rudd, and she wants to take his money and build a museum for everyone to remember him by. Then a logging truck hit Rudd, but the driver claimed that someone had pushed Rudd in front of his truck. When the police are investigating the crime, a boy from a coffee shop across the street gave a description of the man who pushed Rudd. Later that boy was found dead under the ice of Loon Lake. Rudd's will, from her inheritance from Philip's money, was to go to the museum instead of her step children. The police kept suspecting it to be one of the children who had done it. There was Sloane a tempered lady, Tim was a very suspicious man that lived far away in Quebec, and lastly there was Kenzie whom is very friendly, but was bipolar and a small schizophrenic. It ended up being not Kenzie or her husband, but her husbands father. His father borrowed Kenzie's car whenever he committed any of the crimes. Greg, Kenzie's husband, was the first to find out it was his dad. When Greg confronted his dad, his dad shot him with his magnum. Greg made a full recovery, but while on the run from the police his Dad slid forty feet in the air, crashed through the windshield and split his head in half. After his death, he was charged with two first degree murders and one violation of a police officer. All of the kids got their share of the fortune except Tim who was charged with one set of second degree murder on his step mother Rudd.
Character Analysis: Llewellyn was the chief of police for Loon Lake, and she was a very happy, romantic woman who took her job with pride. After being kidnapped by Vern, Greg's dad, she saw life is short and decided to live it closer to the people she loved.
Dr. Osborne was a retired dentist working occasionally at the Loon Lake Police Department for Dental Identification. After Llewellyn was kidnapped, she wanted to spend more time with her by his side.
Judith was mainly just the holder of Rudd's will, but she was later brought together with the crime and became good friends with the police and Rudd's family.
Mallory was Dr. Osborne's daughter who had returned to live with her father from college, and she became an employee at Rudd's museum.
Ray was a cop that found most of evidence against Vern and Tim.
Tim was a suspicious man who abused his youngest sister as a kid and drew censored paintings of her. He was a loose end in the murder of his step mother, by attempt to split his share of the fortune.
Sloane was the oldest of Rudd's family. She was a tempered lady who wanted everything to go her way, and after Rudd died all she wanted was her money. After they found out who murdered her, she was just happy to get her money.
Kenzie was the youngest of the children. She was Bipolar and was borderline Schizophrenic, and because of these attributes she was a person of interest; however, she was very calm and kind which brought question.
Greg was Kenzie's husband, and he was the first to find out who murdered Rudd. He ended up getting shot confronting the killer.
Vern was a sneaky smoker, so at every crime scene they found cigarettes. He was always so secretive with Tim, which made sense because they killed Rudd.
Setting: The book takes place in Loon Lake Wisconsin, near Wausau. It is the middle of winter, maybe January or early February, and it is normally very cold out the days the book takes place. The setting is very important with the plot because being able to identify key points using the snow was very important. Without the snow, things such as: snowmobile tracks, snow prints, and the slippery black ice that killed Greg's father, would not be relevant.
Recommendation: The book was great and I would recommend it to anyone who likes detection or mystery books. The book also takes place in Wisconsin, which is great because the taste of the atmosphere is recognizable. This book would be easier to follow for middle school and high school students because of the information that the book portrays.