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Give First Place to Murder
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Plot Summary of Give First Place to Murder
"

PublishAmerica, Oct 2004, 207 pp.
ISBN: 1413733026

Following her divorce, Ellen McKenzie returns to her California hometown where she sells real estate, spends much if her waking hours worrying about her daughter Susannah, and is seeing Chief of Police Dan Denton.

At a local horse show, Ellie finds a dead man in a barn with a pitch fork buried into his chest. After Dan completes processing the crime scene, he informs Ellie and Susannah (who works on a horse farm) that the victim was a meth addict and that the police feel illegal drugs are being shipped through horse shows. While attending another show, Ellie finds the corpse of a horse trainer in the men's room because she was following him He was a meth user too. Ellie decides to stay close to Susannah since all the suspects seem to work for her daughter's employer. As they snoop together, the killer kidnaps the two McKenzie women with plans to kill both of them.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Give First Place to Murder
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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 - 40%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




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? - 70%
Kind of investigator - amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - feelings towards lover
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - business executive
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - a little
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - small businessman
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
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 - significantly more dialog than descript
Most similar books to Give First Place to Murder
Wildcat Wine by Claire Matturro
Hide Your Eyes by Alison Gaylin
Murder at Union Station by Margaret Truman
Haunting for Justice by Kathy Vollmer
Never Tell by Selena Montgomery


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Kathleen Delaney Resident Scholar Profiles

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Harriet Klausner  

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