The Hotel South Dakota: Tory Bauer Mystery #3

Tory Bauer Mystery #3

by Kathleen Taylor

Delphi, South Dakota is a dusty little prairie town, the kind people drive through on their way to bigger cities. But as Tory Bauer, middle-aged, widowed, overweight, cranky waitress might say, "Everything that happens in big towns, happens here too. We just don't look as good naked." In The Hotel South Dakota the third of six mysteries featuring the crew at the Delphi Caf�, the return of the 1969 Homecoming Queen, a B Movie Actress and the town's one and only claim to fame, triggers memories of an old kegger at the river, mysterious disappearances, and a death that was never fully explained. When history repeats itself, Tory reluctantly steps in to solve the puzzle.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Cozy Mystery

344 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Kathleen Taylor is a freelance knitwear designer and a prolific writer. She is the author of the popular book Knit One, Felt Too, and her knitting designs have appeared in more than 50 different magazines. She lives in Redfield, South Dakota.

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tory Bauer is a recently widowed, overweight waitress in a small town Delphi South Dakota. She is very witty so there is humor in the series. This is the third book in the Tory Bauer Mystery series.

A H.S. reunion is being planned. The story goes back and forth to the mystery of the 1969 class reunion and the current class reunion. The 1969 reunion had tragedy and mystery. It ended in a kegger party by a river. One of the classmates was found dead, due to drowning, and the King and Queen disappeared for 3 days which set tongues wagging as they had steady girl/boy friends. One did come back to town and the other ended up being a Hollywood movie star. She hadn't returned to town since the party by the river.

The new reunion is all abuzz due to the return of the now famous Hollywood classmate star. They are going to go back to the river for the after game party again. Will this reunion parallel the 1969 reunion with death and a mystery?

This series has been called a cozy mystery due to the amateur sleuth and small town but it is far edgier than a cozy due to some language and some sexual content (never graphic) There are 6 books in the series. It is a fun and humorous series. I said in a past review that due to the humor it reminded me somewhat of Joan Hess or Janet Evanovich writings. The first book in the series is Funeral Food.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to be honest. These aren't the world's greatest mysteries. The person usually dies around page 120 which is WAY into the book. Tory Bauer is a flawed character who is very shy and nonconfrontational. And the book does go way overboard in making sure you know that it's small town South Dakota. All the characters keep reminding you about it.

But I love these books. Kathleen Taylor writes very well and I feel a part of that small-town and I feel like I know these people. In this story, Tory has been recruited into preparing an all-school reunion. This dredges up memories of a long-forgotten kegger of 1969 when the football player ran off with a cheerleader and a kid drowned.

Now, as those players return, stories are shared and compared. And was it a drowning? Or was it something a little more sinister?

I like how much personal information we get as well. Tory has a very mixed-up social life. Her boyfriend who is estranged from his wife, is ready to go public. And it does NOT go well. It's a nice B-plot which doesn't get too much attention, but gets some.

I think these are feel good reads, but they're not going to be deep plots.

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathleen Taylor knows small towns, in South Dakota or elsewhere, and she writes about them better than anyone I've ever read. This series is outstanding! Oh, how I wish the publishing world would agree, there are too few of them and no more to come unless something changes

[Mary Kenyon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Kathleen Taylor delivers a great story with twists and turns with humor and wonderful descriptions of small town life in SD. If you've ever lived in SD you will enjoy her comments about Midwest living.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

wish she had written more

[Nancy H · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good series, and I enjoyed reading this entry because the situations are so close to what I have experienced in my high school days and the class reunions beyond. Many things, that is, except murder. Fortunately that did not happen in my neighborhood, but otherwise the characters remind me of people I know, or knew in high school. This is a good murder mystery with lots of surprises at the end.

[Ryan Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great one for the third installment in the series. We travel back to 1969 were Tori Bauer is a sophomore in high school. She deals with all the cliches, betrayal, love, backstabbing and murder. I have enjoyed reading this series so far.

[Pam A · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok but nothing special. Cute but slow moving. Chose this book as my HS reunion was this year and the books HS graduating class was 1969 which was close to mine so for some nostalgia.

Short synopsis: events at the original HS graduation were repeated at a later reunion.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love. Offbeat cast of characters.

[Andi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the cast of characters in this typical and lively (and sometimes deadly) small town.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish it would have been based on an actual small town in SD.

[judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can have a South Dakota cozy--and this is it! The whole series takes place in tiny Delphi, SD where waitress Tory Bauer solves crimes almost by accident. The characters don't change because they've lived in Delphi all their lives. You know them and like them because they are real people--not caricatures. The ones you don't like are probably the people you avoid in real life. The murder triumvirate--money, power and sex appear in the series but since there's not much of the first two in Delphi, coveting thy neighbors wife or husband is fairly common. In this book, the relationships they had back in high school played a huge part. This is a fun series and its too bad Taylor is no longer adding to it. Taylor is actually a star in the knitting world and has published knitting books. For those of you who hate the trend of turning hobbies into mysteries (scrapbooking-give me a break!)you'll be happy to know that tiny Delphi doesn't have a yarn shop.

[Sallie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this book sitting on my to-be-read pile for a few years. Time to check it out.
I think I finished this in one day, although I probably started it the night before after I went to bed (I always read something for awhile before settling down for sleep).

I definitely need to find more of this author's books. The combination of the modern day mystery and mystery of 25 years earlier was great, especially since the 25 years earlier was 1969 - some my era or near to it of high school days.

I kept thinking I knew who the 'murderer' was, and was wrong all the time. Very satisfying read.

[Scilla · Rating 1 out of 5]

This mystery takes place in South Dakota and is mostly during a high school reunion in a small town. After a homecoming football game many years ago, a football player was found drowned, and the homecoming king and queen disappeared. Now at the reunion, another man drowns and Tory Bauer, who was present at both riverside parties works to find the connections. There was a little too much extramarital sex, and the characters were somewhat stilted for my taste.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author does a great job of drawing the reader into the story. Despite the fact that 1969 was around my high school time and despite the fact I can't identify in any way with any of the characters ( aside from Tori liking to read) the well portrayed small town depiction hits the target.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 1969 class reunion. Movie star. Mean football coach.
Good.
People who stayed in small town and people who left.
The past has a long reach.
Good story.

[Cindy Wyatt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting premise (do we really change after high school?) but the story got dull near the end.