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Perfect Sax
Jerrilyn Farmer Book Review

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Plot Summary of Perfect Sax
"

Morrow, Jan 2004, 22.95, 304 pp.
ISBN 0380978903

Maddie Bean's catering and events planning business is becoming very chic with the rich, powerful and famous in Las Angeles and Hollywood. Her firm is catering an event to raise funds for the Woodburn School of Music so that gifted children who can't afford the fees can obtain a scholarship. The gala is a smashing success and Maddie is justifiably proud of her role in the affair.

She leaves the affair with a couple who bought a one hundred thousand dollar musical instrument for their son. Maddie loaned her car to an employee who needs to get to her boyfriend, because to is despondent over her boyfriend failing to earn his dissertation. Maddie arrives home to find police surrounding her house. Her employee lies dead in her bedroom. Not much time passes before Maddie discovers her neighbor is murdered, an angry man who was upset that Maddie found his private papers lying in her street. She not only thinks the two deaths are linked but she believes someone is out to kill her as well but nobody will believe her, thinking she is overwrought and upset.

Jerrilyn Farmer is a fabulous writer who has created one of the most delightful and charming amateur sleuth in the mystery world. The plot is fast-paced and action packed but the heart of this who-done-it lies with the characters and sorting out the villains from the heroes. PERFECT SAX has several sub-plots that make this tale all the more fascinating, especially someone stealing the valuable musical instrument.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Perfect Sax
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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 - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
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? - 90%
Kind of investigator - amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - theft/fraud investigation
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - small businessman
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - police/lawman
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some
Motive of antagonist - revenge
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 - very athletic

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? - 3-4
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
Most similar books to Perfect Sax
The Body in the Snowdrift by Katherine Hall Page
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Thief in Retreat by Aimee and David Thurlo
A Dose of Murder by Lori Avocato


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