Chasing Marie
While reading Chasing Marie, I feel like a detective analyzing clues and they come fast although the author uses great restraint in not telling too much at a time.
The title, Chasing Marie, is very interesting and important to the plot although what they were chasing was not really Marie (Antoinette), but a valuable treasured relic called the Bee, thought to be once owned by Marie Antoinette. Marie’s life has spawned many biographies, movies, and novels like this.
This novel was 206 pages, full of good versus evil and a bit of history to boot. Before we can turn around evil, we must pay a high price for our convictions as did Marie Antoinette, Ed, and Sherry.
This Whodunit begins with a group of characters surrounding a metallic table where the deceased, Sue Lovely, an elderly art dealer, who lies loosely draped with a white sheet. The smell of death was vaporizing the oxygen in the room and all were at odds with each other from past hateful experiences. Ed and Sherry Rogen, the two main characters were professional private detectives and were called in to view the body, summoned by a burly and arrogant Sgt. Meyers of Pensacola Homicide.
Why? Only the detective knew. I like the line on the back of the cover, “It doesn’t take long for the Rogens, (Ed and Sherry) to discover they are the hunted as well as the hunters.”
Much like the symbiosis between a plant and an insect Bee, the Rogens’ lives depended on solving the many murders that ensnared them along the way. No matter which clue they followed, they always returned to the clue of Marie Antoinette’s Bee. She was known for declaring, “suffering gives her fortitude.”
There was a lot of suffering going on for Ed, Sherry, and their companions. Their strength, courage, and persistent work ethics lead them on a journey out of the past into a profitable future. Bruce Whitaker’s, The Missionary can also be found with Chasing Marie at Amazon.com. Each is a thrilling ride for a minimal price.
Note also, I love the covers for Chasing Marie, both front and back, which I understand Bruce designed himself. This book series is entitled the Sherry and Ed Rogen Mysteries. Check them out! For this review, I received a copy of the book from Bruce Whitaker.