[.ca] Death in Lacquer Red (ISBN 0802776094)

enjoyable characters but an uninteresting mystery:
This is the first of a series of mysteries involving Hilda Johannson, a young Swedish immigrant who works in the largest mansion in South Bend, Indiana. Her two sisters and a brother also work in the town and she is courted, somewhat reluctantly, by Patrick, a charming Irish fireman. Her employers are kind, though the butler Mr. Williams is a bit of a tyrant, and things are generally good until Hilda and Patrick discover a murdered woman near the mansion. There were a lot of things I liked about this book. Hilda is an intelligent young woman who manages to work successfully in an oppressive environment, but she also has character flaws, like a stubborn streak and a bad temper, and that makes her believable. Her friends and family are interesting, and Patrick is an admirable partner. The mystery, however, was neither interesting nor explained well, though I trust other reviewers who like the author's work, and would give this series another try.

Interesting novel/inadequate mystery:
I bought this book because I enjoy historical mysteries and I live in Indiana. I also thought that the characters sounded promising. I had just finished reading "Remains of the Day" and seen the movie "Gosford Park," so I was intrigued by a mystery with a female servant as the detective. I enjoyed the characters, especially Hilda, and the setting; I have never visited South Bend, but now I plan to make a special trip. I have not read other mysteries by Jeanne Dams, but I believe the other reviewers who praise her work. However, this book is entirely inadequate as a mystery. Not only are there no clues regarding the identity of the murderer, there's no explanation of the murders. I won't name the murderer, but the author never reveals how this person could have "pulled off" these murders. I don't need all of the details, but the clues and the crime must fit together! I will give this author another try, because reviews of the next book in the series has been better, but this book is decidedly mediocre.

DISAPPOINTING:
I'm a fan of Jeanne Dams and her Dorothy Martin mysteries. I've read all those and looked forward to starting on another of her series featuring Swedish servant Hilda Johansen. The story takes place around the turn of the century and I was execting a lot of period detail. Well, there was but unfortunately not much else. The plot is rather contrived, the characters rather wooden and unappealing and the setting of South Bend, Indiana pretty dull (no offense to South Bend intended but it's not New York or Chicago)The character of Hilda is also a big problem. She's rather stilted and uninteresting,not a good thing when the plot develops around her. This book did not even begin to compare with Dams'work in her other mystery series. I really was disappointed in this book.

Boring:
The plot to this story was extremely boring with a very weak mystery. The characters were unbelievable and not very likable. Was difficult to even finsh the book.

A stretch:
Ms. Dams' Dorothy Martin series is extremely enjoyable, but this one is a stretch--wooden characters, thin plotlines...not a great read!