Murder at Spirit Falls

No Ordinary Women Mysteries #1

by Barbara Deese, Dorothy Olson

Perched above Spirit Falls in the lush Wisconsin woodland, Robin Bentley’s cabin is remote enough for her and her book club friends to shed the restraints of city living, hike in the woods, take moonlight walks and go skinny dipping under the waterfall. But when a body washes up below the falls, the No Ordinary Women find themselves up to their bifocals in a real mystery.  And one of them could be the next victim.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Book Club

296 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2012

About the author

Growing up in a family of voracious readers, Barbara Deese feels at home with people who love a good story. Her twisty career path began when she became one of thirty-three female air marshals in the U.S. She lives in Minnesota with her husband.

Please visit the No Ordinary Women Mysteries Facebook page.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for the first in the series. I will read the next one. My gripe is that there were too many women to keep track of in such a short book. I got the 5 main characters confused a LOT.

[Chris Norbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I don't read much in this genre, and I'm a guy, so I don't feel particularly qualified to pass "expert" judgment. But as a reader in general, I found the females to be believable and real. None were perfect, but they were tight friends and forgave each other's faults.

Pacing was good, story structure was spot on, and the mystery was well-conceived with just enough red herrings to keep this armchair sleuth wondering "Whodunit?" I really appreciated that the editing was clean and tight. The subplots of Robin dealing with breast cancer and the Grover-Harley connection added nice depth to the story.

A minor nitpick (for me) was that Jose seemed like an important character early on, but he disappeared for most of the middle of the book and only made a token appearance late. I kept wondering when and if he'd come back into the story. Also, one of the women, Louise, had very little to do with the story after the first third of the book, and I kept wondering what happened to her.

This book will resonate most with "women of a certain age" and anyone who likes cozy mysteries more than hardboiled detective/crime novels.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is about a group of four older women who get together once a year at a cabin in the woods. They have a near neighbor who hosts parties at which a group of older men have sex with younger women and do drugs. That’s as far as I got. The older women are portrayed realistically and sympathetically but the “bad” guys and their female consorts are cartoonish. Did not finish.

[McKenzie Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good murder mystery book. It wasn't my favorite mystery ever, but it did what any good murder mystery novel is supposed to do: keep me wondering who the murderer was until the last act of the story. And the characters were lovable people that make you want to cheer them on.

[Michelle Sellner 123 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit slow but good who done it

[Elaine Koyama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good thing this is a fast read because I kept going back to it when I was supposed to be working! Fun read, and cool to read about areas that I know. The story had lots of twists and turns that work themselves out in the end. Pulls in the iconic lake cabin that Minnesotans love as well as dogs and cats that are lovable characters, too.
I’m for sure reading the next one.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

summary: The five-Robin, Cate, Grace, Louise, and Foxy-form the No Ordinary Women book club, reveling in yearly retreats at Robin's isolated century-old hunting lodge in the Wisconsin woods. Previous visits have involved skinny-dipping under Spirit Falls, fine dining and literary discussions, but this year's unwelcome visitor, a body floating in the haunted pool, dampens their anticipated festivities. Officials are ready to write the death off as accidental, but the extraordinary women believe there's dirty work afoot and risk their own lives to investigate

Review: It is clear that the two authors are new at writing. The narration isn't awful but when that authors are trying to have a true funny moment or flesh out a character --it can often call attention to itself. There are also a lot of "name dropping" in this book. I mean I think that a large part of this book's appeal is that it takes place in WI and MN and so to make it fun to its local readers authors are constantly finding ways to talking about local places--to the point it would alienate non Midwestern readers AND it slows down that plot.

That being said, this book does have its moments. There is a delightful quirkiness in these woman characters. And unlike mainly other woman lead mysteries, these woman have a "real" quality to them--they have aged bodies, confusing marital statuses and the rest.

This book would be good for a adult mid west readers. Fans of this book should try Dean Hovey's "Whistling Pines" series.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable mystery that did keep me guessing until most of the way through the book. Overall I liked the "No Ordinary Women" and I wouldn't mind inhabiting their world in another book.

I had two major issues with the book. First, the back story for one of the main characters felt forced- as if the authors had decided how they wanted the plot to go and then made up a back story that would allow the character to take the action they had already predefined.

Second, while as a person who has lived in Minnesota for most of my life, I loved seeing some familiar places in the book, I felt that perhaps there wouldn't be enough context for a non-local reader- there was not enough description of these places to add the feel the author was trying to generate.

Recommended to those who like mysteries, and especially those who live in Minnesota/Western Wisconsin.

[Jean Boe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good murder mystery set in MN and WI. Besides the murder, the story centers around the five members of the No Ordinary Women book club; happenings in their lives; and, how they string clues together. It is a great premise. The ending is somewhat of a surprise. Unless the clues are followed closely throughout the story, it will not be suspected. Highly recommend this book. I am looking forward to reading the next 3(?) books in this series and hope they keep coming.

[Donna Ostendorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read. It held your interest until the very end. You had ideas about who had done it, but she kept you guessing. I plan on reading the next one.

g about who had committed the murder until the very end to find out for sure and how. I plan on reading the other two books too.

[Ingridanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this book. ladies in a book club with a long friendship and a taste for intrigue. loved the setting with familiar settings. a real page turner.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

my mystery pick of the summer. strong plot, keeps interest to the end, fun characters, takes place in St.Paul, Mpls, Wisc area so lots of local references.

[Kbreach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder mysteries aren't my favorite genre but this one kept me wondering... And the settings are spot on. Makes me miss that area!!

[Amy Bea · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started a bit rocky, but eventually pulled me in. I didn't know who 'did it' and thus was happily surprised by the murderer.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the characters in this book and a new Minnesota author besides.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked it. First in a series and I will be reading more.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average mystery but I loved all the local (Twin Cities, Minnesota) references.

[Roseanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was only so-so. I had a hard time keeping track of the five friends and who was who. The formatting/editing of the book was difficult to follow. Paragraphs seemed to run into each other, like the scene is the women at the cabin and the next sentence was the sheriff and the deputy were talking at the station with no new paragraph. It was very jarring. The overall mystery was good, and it did keep guessing until close to the end of the book.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story.

[Julie Alexandrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Fun characters and good plot.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty entertaining and I enjoyed Minnesota connection.

[Ryan Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice mystery were the sleuths are a group of older women staying in a cabin for a retreat. There's a group of older men who have parties with younger women. The sleuths find a body of a younger woman in the lake.

[Christine Husom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murder at Spirit Falls features a fine cast of characters who seem like real people in a wonderful story plot. Very well-written!

[Mariah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book on a trip to Red Wing, MN with the boyfriend. Barbara was there signing her book and I figured why not give this a shot? I love reading local authors and supporting them. However, this book was incredibly disappointing and very slow to read. I'm still confused on a lot of the story and how everything played out.

Robin is the creator of this "No Ordinary Women's Book Club" I like that Robin has her cancer diagnosis and it adds depth to her character. There's also Cate who is a vet so she's caring and the positive upbeat person in the group. Grace somewhat plays a role and then Foxy and Louise are thrown and I still know nothing about them.

As for the mystery component... I can't believe that Grace sees a button and is all like "I know everything that happened" Yeah right.. Plus why was Brenda even burning down Robins cabin in the first place? For a button? Plus Ross conveniently dies of a drug over dose and then his assistant vanishes? It's weird to me. Maybe that's supposed to be resolved in novels that I have no intention on reading.

Unfortunately, this wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. If you're looking for a leisurely, relaxing very slow paced book than this is for you.

[Sherry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't like it. Only read a couple of chapters.