Confession time. I remember when Susan Cox’ The Man on the Washing Machine came out. Honestly? The title was so unappealing to me that I never tried it. I should have known better. That book was the winner of the Minotaur Books/MWA First Crime Novel Award, and those books are usually excellent. I discovered that when I picked up the second in the series, The Man in the Microwave Oven. It’s a clever, intricate mystery with delightful characters, especially the amateur sleuth. She’s usually motivated by a wish to help others.
Following her parents’ notorious deaths, Theo Bogart fled London and moved to the U.S. She changed her identity, bought an apartment building, opened a bath and body shop, and didn’t tell her new friends and lover who she really is. Now, comfortably ensconced in the neighborhood, she regrets that she’s still lying to all of them about her identity. Somehow lawyer Katrina Dermody learns who Theo is. Katrina, who is working with a local developer, is disliked by most of the people in the neighborhood for her brutal techniques and nasty demeanor. Now, she’s threatening Theo.
When Theo discovers Katrina’s car parked on the street, headlights on, and Katrina’s body inside, she’s actually relieved. She even finds a way to sneak into Katrina’s office and find her own file, and one on the neighbors’. She steals them, just before a second person enters and chases after her with a gun. Theo thinks that’s the end of it, and that Inspector Lichlyter will find Katrina’s murderer. Lichlyter knows who Theo really is. She was the lead investigator the last time Theo was involved in a murder.
But, Theo’s life is about to take a path she never sees coming. When a Ukrainian priest shows up looking for Theo’s grandfather, who followed her to the U.S., she’s suspicious. Over lunch with Grandfather, he reveals he does know the man from the days when they were both spies. Theo’s shocked to learn her family’s secrets. She’s even more shocked when the priest ends up death, and Theo’s shop assistant and her grandfather are arrested for the murder.
Theo spends so much time helping her friend, Nat, with his coffee shop, and Matthew, a homeless man. What’s a murder investigation on top of that? She knows Davie and her grandfather are innocent. Theo’s search will take her from meetings with spies to meetings in a strip club. Fortunately, Theo’s made a lot of friends. They’re going to have to join forces to come to her rescue when she gets a little too close to a killer.
The Man in the Microwave Oven is clever. The characters are endearing, everyone from Theo and Grandfather to Nat and Davie. When Ben, Theo’s lover shows up, because he was on active duty in some mysterious location, he’s just as charming as the other characters. Oh, there are nasty people, both Katrina and the killer. Readers will hope that Cox’ characters make a return appearance.
Susan Cox’ website is www.susancox.net
The Man in the Microwave Oven by Susan Cox. Minotaur Books, 2020. ISBN 9781250116208 (hardcover), 304p.
*****
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a .pdf to review for a journal.
