Part of the Solution, a mystery by Elana Mitchelson, is a wonderful combination of remembering the 1970s along with a well-written mystery plot that holds your attention from beginning to end.
Professor Jennifer Morgan’s invitation to give a keynote address on a subject close to her heart brings her back to Boston and a chance encounter with past love Ford McDermott. We travel back with Jennifer to the 1970s, a time of free love and experimenting with mind-altering drugs.
I remember that time in which we marched against the Vietnam War and prejudice was vanishing as blacks and whites our age all agreed “Make love, not war.” We all felt very noble about how we viewed the war. It wasn’t until servicemen and women were treated horribly after returning home that I realized we weren’t all that noble.
Jennifer is in her fourth year of graduate school when she follows an instinct to look for a life outside of academe. Taking a leave of absence, she heads up to New England. There she finds Flanders in Williamstown, Massachusetts and with her grandfather’s tiny legacy, she becomes part owner of Café Galadriel.
Those we encounter in Jennifer’s new world are all well drawn, quirky and fun. Co-owner Wendy Scholes is always seen with her Tarot cards when not baking up tasty treats in the kitchen. Herbalist Annie McGantry is a solid organic farmer, full of life and living it to the fullest. Carpenter Will Hampton met Wendy while looking for work and board. A month later he is staying in Wendy’s room, obviously woodworking not being his only skill.
David Sullivan, a poet, is Annie’s latest. He also supplies the group with any mind-altering drugs they wish. Zack Lerner gained fame by serving three years in Leavenworth for refusing to serve in Viet Nam. Disliked by Annie and Jennifer, handsome Samir Molchev is a mystery to the group. When one of the friends is found dead, they find it impossible to believe it’s anyone in their group.
Enter Inspector Allard Johns and his deputy Ford McDermott to investigate the murder. Jennifer is torn between her love for her friends and the attraction she is feeling for Ford McDermott. As the story progresses, Jennifer begins to see the possibility that it could be one of her friends. At the same time, McDermott is trying his best to solve the murder. Of course, this will be what breaks up their romance. The reader is left to decide what they would have done under the same circumstances.
I really enjoyed this murder mystery with a conclusion we never see coming.
My only suggestion for the author is to try to keep politics out of her next mystery. We’ve already gotten to know Jennifer’s political leanings on page one; her keynote address is on the colonialism that ran like tainted blood through the Victorian novel. I know it’s hard for someone who went through the indoctrination of a liberal college into a career teaching the same to remember that over half the country might not agree with those politics. Better to appeal to the wider audience and save politics for a book about that subject.
Part of the Solution, a mystery, is published by Torchflame Books, an imprint of Top Read Publishing, LLC and is available at amazon.com.