I just finished Bill Crider’s Sheriff Dan Rhodes mystery, A Romantic Way to Die. I enjoyed every bit of the story, but I can see why Crider’s family wants to republish all the books. That cover! Granted, the book takes place at a romance writers’ convention. But, the cover has nothing to do with the actual deaths. Remember how some of the paperback mystery covers used to try to look sexy, even the Perry Mason ones? This cover reminds me of that.
There’s a booksigning at the local Wal-Mart, and Sheriff Rhodes even goes during work hours because Ivy wants a signed copy of the book. Local author Vernell Lindsey wrote Wild Texas Wind under the name Ashley Leigh. But people are really lining up to see Terry Don Coslin, a local boy who made the big time as a cover model on romances. He hadn’t been back to Blacklin County since he graduated.
He’s here now, though, along with a number of romance writers for a conference Vernell Lindsey is sponsoring. It’s being held on the site of a former college campus which has been restored. But, it’s not so romantic when Rhodes is called out following the death of one of the writers. And, everyone at the conference seems to have a reason to lie about their whereabouts. It’s even worse when a building on campus explodes while the sheriff is investigating a second death.
Crider’s mystery brings together so many romance tropes from the jealousy among writers to the hunky cover model. And, even that cover capitalizes on the thoughts about romances. It’s fun to see Crider and Sheriff Rhodes handle a writers’ conference and everything that goes with them, from catering to panels to jockeying for agents. And, although some series characters have died off over the course of the series, Crider makes good use of some newer ones. A Romantic Way to Die is another outstanding small town police procedural in the series.
A Romantic Way to Die by Bill Crider. St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2001. ISBN 9780312209070 (hardcover), 231p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I bought a copy of the book.
