Think on Death

Ziza Todd #1

by David Willis McCullough

Paperback

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a quick read but held my interest from the very beginning. The characters were well written and the main story was very spellbinding. Naomi Quick returns to the town of Smyrna New York after twenty-five years. Her husband disappeared from the commune-like community that she worked at as a young bride. She receives a note stating that her husband will return home on a given date and she travels to see if he is still alive. When she arrives, she finds a group that are planning to open a "theme park" based on the old cult. Her aunt Nan, the last resident of the commune, has died and she goes to attend her memorial service as well to see if her missing husband will make an appearance. He does, but not as she thinks, his bones are discovered in her aunt's old bedroom. She meets Ziza Todd who is the minister who is called in to conduct the service. There are a lot of things going on and Naomi and Ziza try to find out the answers. This is a very good book and I recommend it highly.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though set in 1980s Hudson Valley New York, the book seemed more like a Golden Age mystery. Despite numerous references to poplar culture and literature, the characters appeared rather naive for the times. Keeping track of the numerous characters was confusing. Likewise, Ziza Todd, the sleuth being introduced to readers for the first time, seemed almost an afterthought to the action. Smyrna, the ficticious Utopian community/summer camp, was hard to envision as well. It might have been helpful had a list of characters and a map of the locale been included as was sometimes done in Golden Age mysteries.

The funeral of a family matriarch starts the action, closely followed by the discovery of a skeleton. The plot meanders but at the end the frayed strands are pulled together with a logical solution thanks to newly-minted sleuth Ziza. She plans to return to Rochester and finish up her divinity degree along with (no surprise) continued sleuthing. I will be reading Point-No Point (next book in the series) to see how her plans pan out.

[Linda Umstead]

Engaging story of a small town and its part-time residents. A cold case story.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witty, character-driven mystery. Very pleasant.