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Murder In The Forecast
Valerie Wolzien Book Review

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Plot Summary of Murder In The Forecast
"

Fawcett, Sept 2001, 6.99, 272 pp.
ISBN 04490063176

    At the moment Josie is content and has her world in order, living on one of the barrier islands in Florida. She owns her own construction business and is involved in a deep meaningful relationship with her significant other. All that changes when Hurricane Agatha is supposed to directly hit the island. Before evacuating, Josie goes to get something from the house she is remodeling but finds the owner dead with something of hers wrapped around his neck.

    Since the police chief of the island dislikes her, Josie does not report the murder. When everyone returns home after the hurricane passes, Josie finds the house and the body are gone. The victim's three daughters arrive on the island insisting something happened to their father. One of Josie's friends had illegal dealings with him back in New York and hated the man. Her boyfriend's mother, also on the island, was dating the man. There are so many suspects and so few clues that even for an expert amateur sleuth like Josie Pigeon, this is a difficult case to solve.

    Valerie Wolzein writes some of the best amateur sleuth mysteries in the genre today. MURDER IN THE FORECAST displays a dry sense of humor (even during the hurricane), a colorful and atmospheric scenery, and best of all a believable plot. The author turns Hurricane Agatha into the main adversary of the tale. The heroine is an independent feminist who likes her work as a construction worker and makes the audience believe that she genuinely enjoys it. This novel and the other books in the series are must reading for mystery lovers.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Murder In The Forecast
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
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story: - 1980's-1999
Spying/Terrorism Thriller Yes
Disaster, natural or nuclear Yes
Kind of disaster: - storm/hurricane
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 40%
Special suspect? - relative
Kind of investigator - amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes
General Crime (including known murderer) Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here? - finding a known killer

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - small businessman
How much violence does he/she use? - none
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - wealthy
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Southeast

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 1
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to Murder In The Forecast
Midsummer Murder by Shelley Freydont
Yeats is Dead: A Mystery by 15 Irish Writers by Joseph O'Connor
Blood by Patricia Traxler
The Foreigner by Meg Castaldo
Loose Ends by Neal Bowers


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