Janet Dawson (1) (1949–)

"It began with a house. The house on the corner was an old Queen Anne Victorian built in the 1800's. The house hadn’t been painted in a long time and several of the windowpanes were cracked and dirty. Abandoned? No, there was a car in the driveway, so someone was living in the house. It made me wonder about the stories hidden within those walls. I had a feeling this old house had secrets, lots of them.” The bones that Jeri finds when she is helping friends clean out a relative's home and is then asked to investigate are found inside an old Navy footlocker with several other items. DNA and dental records may provide answers, but those are the things available to the police...things that Jeri has no control over or ready access to. She discovers clues in other ways. Old newspaper articles accessed online...flesh that might remain on the bones.... property records, as well as internet archives and databases. She finds it's bones of two people... two broken skeletons with a 95% chance of being in the locker since the 1960's.."hippy days". Could they possibly be victims of the Zodiac Killer? This is the first Janet Dawson book that I have read but it was a fantastic read. Now I have to start from the first. Quite a task since this was book #14 in the series...but I'm up for the challenge.… (més)

historical-novel, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, rail-travel, 1953, retired-cop, gambling, cozy-mystery, murder-investigation, murder, amateur-sleuth, relatives, relationships, closed-circle-mystery*****

I geek history so this vignette into life in 1953 as a 26 y/o railroad hostess complete with the costs of travel was my idea of fun! The history is made personal as it threads in and out of the tale complete with a detailed travelogue. She comes into contact with all manner of travelers between Chicago/Colorado/California and usually enjoys everything. About halfway through a man is murdered and the sleuthing begins!
I love train travel!
Published by Perseverance Press/IBPA.… (més)