Rhys Bowen, author of Her Royal Spyness series, recently said one of the biggest mistakes an author can make is to add a baby to an amateur sleuth’s life. I wonder if Carol J. Perry decided to end her Witch City mystery series by giving Lee and Pete Mondello a baby. I can’t say for sure that Sugar and Spite is the conclusion of the series set in Salem, Massachusetts, but it felt that way.
Lee is the Program Director of WICH-TV in Salem. It’s almost Halloween, and she has an easy assignment since she’s almost eight months pregnant. She’s covering candy shops in town before the holiday. Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie is the oldest candy shop in America, started in 1806. She’s also excited about visiting a new shop, Casa de Chocolate, where they make chocolate in the basement of an old mansion. After she talks with the owner, Shirley Parker, she heads to the basement to get a few photos. She has to call 911, though, when she finds a man’s body in the basement.
The dead man is Shirley’s ex-husband, Bernie Bingham. Although anyone on the chocolate staff could have accessed the basement, the police concentrate on Shirley, her son, Hugh, and Bernie’s girlfriend. Lee isn’t a lot of help to her husband, Pete, with this case. The scryer hasn’t had any visions since she became pregnant. But, she does seem to have a stalker. Pete and Lee are both worried about her safety and that of the baby. But, two cats and a dog are watching over them.
I can’t say Perry is ending the series. It does feel, though, as if Lee’s work at the TV station is no longer as important to her as the baby is. And, even if she continues working part-time, the crimes and the TV stories don’t seem to have any urgency. Instead of a mystery, this book seemed to have formulaic characters with little emphasis on character and plot development, and all the focus on the baby.
I would like to complement the author, though. Sugar and Spite has an interesting collection of recipes, and, an interesting list of suggested books for children of all ages.
Carol J. Perry’s website is https://www.caroljperry.com/my-books
Sugar and Spite by Carol J. Perry. Kensington, 2025, 304p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I read a galley, supplied by the publisher on NetGalley, with no expectation of a review.
Someday, someone will figure out how to give a cozy sleuth a baby and keep the series going, and all the writers will smack their heads, and think,”Why didn’t I think of that?”
You’re right, Glen. I haven’t seen it successfully done yet.
That is sad. How can a sleuth solve a mystery when she has her hands full with a baby, that made me think of Hid From Our Eyes by Julia Spencer Fleming, when Reverend Clare Fergusson had a baby, the mystery had to be solved by Police Chief Russ van Alstyne! There is another book after that but I need to wait until it comes out in paperback, it has good reviews so I hope that Claire is much more active in the mystery solving!
I’ve seen more series end soon after the sleuth has a baby. My sister, Christie (comment below) is right. Rhys Bowen’s characters both have live-in help.
Yet the characters in Rhys Bowen’s Her Royal Spyness and Molly Murphy series both had babies. They do both have live in help, but it makes me wonder if she regrets it.
I have the feeling that Rhys does regret it, Christie, from her comments just this week at The Poisoned Pen.
The same is true for television series. I knew MAD ABOUT YOU had jumped the shark when they started trying to have a baby.
Most of our favorite sitcoms have this in common: no children. Think about it.
The Brady Bunch? Diff’rent Strokes? Silver Spoons? Growing Pains? Ozzie and Harriet? My Three Sons?
Those shows jumped the shark when the kids gew up.
But none of them were babies, Glen. And, they weren’t shows with amateur sleuths.
Or at least no little children, Jeff.
My police detective, Giuliana Linder, has two kids, and I solved that by giving her a freelance journalist husband who is a secondary breadwinner and has raised the kids, with help from grandparents, daycare centers, and schools. But if the father of the kid(s) solves mysteries with the mother, then you’ve got a problem!
Yes, Kim, and look at the problems her partner is having with his kids (SPOILER ALERT) now that his marriage has imploded (END SPOILER).
Don’t get me wrong, there are books (and TV shows, for that matter) that do deal with children in a realistic way, but too many do not.
I agree, Jeff. It also irritates me when amateur sleuths in cozies own a shop and leave it unattended or close it so they can investigate. How can they stay in business? Don’t get me wrong. I like cozies, but there are realistic ones, and ones that do tend to get in trouble with little ones. Just a couple of my pet peeves. I think Rhys Bowen is right.
Or, if the father is employed as a policeman or detective, as is often the case with an amateur sleuth. One series I quit reading had a mother who got in trouble a couple times because her child was in the car with her when she tried to follow a suspect. (sigh)
One more thought, Donna Andrews does it well with her Meg Langslow books. But again, she has live in help. The twins have grown up throughout the series, but she always has referenced where the boys are and who is with them.