Another great mystery in the Marjorie Trumaine series

By: Larry D. Sweazy

Rating: 5 of 5

“See Also Deception” is the second in the series of mystery stories by Larry D. Sweazy involving Marjorie Trumaine. I was afraid that the second book might not be as good as the first (as so often happens) but it is every bit as good and advances the story in a real and meaningful way.

Marjorie is a farmer’s wife who has seen her share of troubles. Her loving and beloved husband is paralyzed from the neck down after a hunting accident. The farm is too much for Marjorie to handle on her own but a young neighbor helps her out with chores and running the land.

Thankfully, Marjorie took a course offered by the US Dept of Agriculture and has become a trusted indexer of books. That job helps make ends meet and has taught Marjorie the skill of making lists which help her to think through her life and to help solve various crimes.

Marjorie’s good friend and the town librarian is found to have committed suicide. Marjorie just can’t come to grips with this and struggles to figure out what may have happened. When she comes across an important piece of the puzzle, she also begins to find out that she didn’t know her friend as well as she thought.

I enjoyed reading this book. The author has a lyrical way of expressing his characters thoughts and actions and has a way of making prosaic happenings into poetry with his turn of phrase. The story is believable and fits the time well. There are subjects that would have been considered taboo in the time and place (which are certainly not today) and Mr. Sweazy is able to fit those into the book in a way that seems appropriate.

I have enjoyed this series but was surprised somewhat by the ending. Not the whodunnit which I was able to figure out just ahead of Marjorie but about life changes that happen. I can hardly wait to see what is next for Marjorie and will be looking forward to the next book in this series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via the publisher.