Cannell's Cozy Mystery - Bev Russell, Library Director

(This column appeared in the July 8, 2007, Star-Herald)

Tired of dysfunction, sadness, murder, mayhem, violence and sex in your books. Try Dorothy Cannell. She writes the Ellie Haskell mystery series of cozy mysteries, and "Withering Heights" is her latest book.

Book reviewer extraordinaire Nancy Pearl calls cozies "the literary equivalent of a warm (not hot) bubble bath". They are delightful, light-hearted tales with quixotic characters and a slight touch of suspense. Think Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple or television’s " Murder, She Wrote". Traditionally, cozies were set in England; however, this is no longer true. Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series is in this mystery subgenre. Stephanie lives in New Jersey. Most frequently cozies appeal to women, and the heroine is a woman. She is an amateur sleuth who may be a caterer, decorator, bookstore owner or in Ellie Haskett’s case a homemaker. Almost always the heroine has a sidekick, who is often a police officer or detective. Mrs. Haskell’s "Man Friday" is Roxie Malloy, who is her charwoman.

I read cozies for their whimsy, humor and characters. "Withering Heights" is no exception. (The title, of course, is a play on the title of the classic gothic novel "Wuthering Heights".) The plot is absurdly convoluted. On a "dark and stormy night" Ellie Haskell’s 13 year-old niece, Ariel, suddenly appears at her home, Merlin Court, having taken the train from Yorkshire. Looking for sympathy and assistance from Ellie, Ariel ran away from home because she hates her stepmother. Ellie, husband Ben and the ever present Mrs. Malloy must return Ariel to her parents, and the sleuthing begins. Ariel’s father and stepmother won the lottery and purchased an Elizabethan mansion, which Ariel calls Withering Heights. The stepmother, Betty, is convinced that former owner Lady Fiona has dispatched her husband, Nigel and is obsessed with finding the body. The ever-present Mrs. Malloy travels along because she wants to patch-up an argument with her sister Melody, who also lives in Yorkshire. They have not spoken for forty years because Mrs. Malloy once "made eyes" at a young man, who Melody fancied.

The dead bodies begin to pile up although the missing Nigel may or may not be one of them.

One reason to read a cozy is to enjoy the delightful characters, and Mrs. Malloy is a rare bird indeed. Making her first appearance in the novel, she is described as follows: "…wafting a feather duster. She was looking her majestic best in a purple taffeta dress and an enormous pair of rhinestone earrings…Her jet-black hairdo with its two inches of white roots is always her chief fashion statement. She also goes in for iridescent eye shadow, lashings of mascara, brick-red rouge, and purple-passion lipstick."

Mrs. Malloy is quite opinionated. Ariel and her parents argue about whether Ariel will attend mass one Sunday morning. Mrs. Malloy offers her unique opinions on Catholicism. Her doctor, she says, advised her against becoming a Catholic because it was bad for the knees, "…all that bobbing up and down in the pews." To her it is a shame because of the favorable Catholic views on Bingo. "Protestants have never taken to it the same way. To be fair, there’s nothing in the Bible that says anything about it one way or another." For that reason, she would have become Catholic but for her knees.

Another scene illustrates the quirkiness of other characters. During an afternoon tea at Cragstone House (Withering Heights) a delightfully goofy conversation takes place between elderly Vicar Tribble and Lady Fiona. Vicar Tribble believes he may have officiated at Lady Fiona’s wedding. It leads to the following exchange.

"Did I marry you, Lady Fiona".

"’I do tend to be somewhat absentminded,’ responded her ladyship serenely, ‘but I think I would have remembered had you ever been my husband.’"

"Withering Heights" is delightful book. If Dorothy Cannell does not have you laughing out loud, she will have you chuckling and smiling to yourself. No murder, mayhem or violence but a lot of fun—I cheerfully recommend "Withering Heights" by Dorothy Cannell.

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