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The Popsicle Tree
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Plot Summary of The Popsicle Tree
"Book #9 of the Dick Hardesty Mystery series finds protagonist Dick Hardesty and his partner Jonathan with a new upstairs neighbor, Carlene DeNuncio, a lesbian single mother with a four year old son, Kelly. When Jonathan's own four year old nephew, Joshua, comes for a ten-day stay, he is enrolled in the same day care facility as Kelly, run by two lesbian sisters for the children of gays and lesbians.

Carlene's death by a hit-and-run driver prompts one of the sister-owners of the day care to hire Dick to look into the death, which she suspects was not accidental.

The reader follows Dick through a maze of suspects--the other owner-sister of the day care, Carlene's angry ex-partner, and a very dysfunctional mother and son (Kelly's father). "

Roger Margason, Resident Scholar




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Review Analysis of The Popsicle Tree
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%




Tone of story - very upbeat
How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story: - 1980's-1999
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 50%
Kind of investigator - hard boiled/private eye
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - minority/women/homosexual issues
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes
Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story? Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - private investigator
Age: - 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - none
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - private investigator
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount
Motive of antagonist - power
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Intelligence - Average intelligence

Setting
United States Yes
City? Yes

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths? - 1
Sex Yes
What kind of sex: - homosexuals doing their thing
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to The Popsicle Tree
Fear of the Dark by Gar Anthony Haywood
Dying in the Dark by Valerie Wilson Wesley
Burning Moon by Richard Barre
The White Road by John Connolly
Desert Wives by Betty Webb


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Dorien Grey Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Roger Margason  

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