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Murder Will Travel
Emily Toll Book Review

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Plot Summary of Murder Will Travel
"

Berkley, May 2002, 6.50, 288 pp.
ISBN: 0425184536

    Fifty two years old Lynne Montgomery uses the insurance money from her husband's death to buy the Booked for Travel agency. She leaves Florida for Sonoma County, California wine country where she meets her first group of travelers.
   
Instead of a quiet trek, the idyllic tour turns vinegary when Lynne finds the corpse of Lance Belladuce, whose family once owned Villa Belladuce. Detective Lauren Shaw investigates the homicide, which enables Lynne and her fifteen “guests” to be ahead of schedule. Next someone ruins much of the villa's wine. This is followed by another murder that finally sends the itinerary over the edge and a desperate Lynne into making inquiries into what happened to her tour.
   
Though the look into California wine country is charming and the amateur sleuth investigation side by side with the police procedural is entertaining, the key that makes MURDER WILL TRAVEL fun is the ensemble cast. Lynne serves as more than just the lead protagonist of the plot, as she is the nucleus that keeps the tale on the main path. The support characters have distinct personalities so that the reader knows whose who, which is quite an accomplishment when dealing with a crew of eighteen secondary people making many appearances mostly together. Fans of amateur sleuth stories will enjoy Emily Toll's “guided tour” book.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Murder Will Travel
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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 - 60%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




Tone of story - very upbeat
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70%
Kind of investigator - amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - life in that culture
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - small businessman
Age: - 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use? - a little
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
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: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - business executive
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - revenge
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - California

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 2
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to Murder Will Travel
Died to Match by Deborah Donnelly
The Bar Mitzvah Murder by Lee Harris
The Doctor Digs A Grave by Robin Hathaway
The Thai Amulet by Lyn Hamilton
Death Tidies Up by Barbara Colley


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