After a Thanksgiving filled with too much cleaning, too much cooking, and way too much eating, I was ready for a read that was light and fun. I hesitate to call a murder mystery fun, but in this case it’s appropriate, as I picked up the book “Teetotaled” by Maia Chance. It was just what I needed.
The story follows Chance’s book “Come Hell or Highball” and finds Lola Woodby in 1923 New York, where her dead, cheating husband has left her penniless. She and her former cook, Berta, end up as roommates and partners in a fledgling private detective agency. With a few cases (and a few highballs) under their belts, the two sassy ladies find themselves on the trail of a murderer at Willow Acres “health farm” on Long Island. All the while, Lola tries to adjust from high society life to wondering how she will pay her next month’s rent.
Lola is bold with a laid-back sense of humor. I liked her. She’s obsessed with dime-store detective novels, shoes, and chocolate. I liked that, too. But most of all, I liked the fact that I didn’t have the mystery figured out before the end of the book. That’s always a plus when reading a murder mystery. At least it is in my book.
