Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy
Desert Winter: A Claire Gray Mystery? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer
discounts of up to 90% on
Desert Winter: A Claire Gray Mystery. Check out the link below:
>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers
Desert Winter: A Claire Gray Mystery ReviewReading a Michael Craft mystery is like visiting old friends. You know and appreciate the characters, you usually know what to expect, but you still often receive a few surprises.
Desert Winter is the second in the Claire Gray mystery series, and in it Craft has begun the process of polishing and refining his cast of characters. Secondary characters like Claire's neighbor Grant have been given more personality, and as a result have become more natural and believable. Only best friend Kiki remains to be fully brought to life.
In addition, the new characters created for this specific adventure are, to say the least, quite unique. First there's Stewart Chaffee, an eccentric gay art collector and decorator who you know is going to become the prime victim and not just because he's addicted to Pink Fluff. Rounding out the Chaffee household, there's Pea, his height-challenged long-time major domo, and Bonnie Bahr, his nurse and care-giver who is just as adept with giving him a return insult as she is to giving him care.
Oh, and in case you missed DESERT AUTUMN the first book in the series, Claire Gray is a renowned, fifty-something Broadway director who has been enticed by wealthy businessman, D. Glenn Yeats to move across the country to Palm Springs and head the theater department in his new Desert Arts College. As the scene opens, she is in the final stages of opening the initial production of the Desert Arts Theater. By the way, she also has a much younger hunk protégé in the person of Tanner Griffin, fledgling actor. (Amo, amas, amat.)
Anyway, the DESERT WINTER plot is much like a play with new clues and red herrings being revealed with each scene change. And in a grand theatrical manner murderer is revealed in the final scene with all the characters (and suspects) in attendance.
As usual I really enjoyed the book, however I have two nits to pick with the plot. First, there's the issue of Claire and Glenn buying into a clue Glenn discovers that does not fit into the time line of the plot. Claire is swift enough to have picked up on the time discrepancy right away. The other is Kane, Grant's boyfriend, describing a mysterious professor as just an older gentleman. Okay, Kane is very young and everyone he meets is older, but how could he miss a very distinctive feature of the professor which other characters had noted throughout the book.
Mark Manning, the publisher/journalist hero of Craft's other successful series makes a cameo appearance in this story since his nephew Thad has become a student in the theater school. I wonder how long it will be before Mark buys the Desert Sun, Palm Springs' daily newspaper, and divides his time between Wisconsin and Palm Springs like author Craft.
DESERT WINTER is a real page-turner, and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a refreshing and enjoyable reading experience. It really earned my ***** rating.
Desert Winter: A Claire Gray Mystery OverviewWant to learn more information about
Desert Winter: A Claire Gray Mystery?
>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now
