Journeybook Press (Trade Paperback),
ISBN 0-9634183-6-X
The third book in the Journals of Kate Cavanaugh series, Carve a Witness to Shreds boasts an abundance of odd and unusual characters -- some interesting, some just there. But the mystery seems secondary to the internal conflicts of the title character, Kate Cavanaugh. I suspect I would have enjoyed this book more if I read the first books in the series because the novel kept referring to prior events not explained in this book. 

Three inches over six feet tall, beautiful, a breast cancer survivor, heiress to a fortune, and a famous caterer, the woman dubbed "the Amazon Chili Heiress Detective" by the Cincinnati press finds herself dissatisfied with her life, at odds with her mother and single. Kate's current career also bores her, but at the request of her uncle and a desperate friend, Kate attends a riverboat party for a "new-comer" land developer. When the developer is killed, Kate takes it upon herself to discover his murderer. 

Kate never resolves her lifestyle issues and solves the murder almost by accident. She also discovers her own ultra-respectable family hides a few dark secrets. Nevertheless, I found Kate to an interesting character. The New-Age flavor of the book intrigued me too, but I wanted the mystery to take center stage, not Kate's love life or lack thereof or her problems with her mother or… 

Written by a husband and wife writing team, Carve a Witness to Shreds offers some fascinating elements, a great dog and some hints that the series will continue. I hope it does, because Kate interested me in and of herself, enough so that I kept reading and reading, wanting to become better acquainted with this engaging character. 

Patricia White 

Patricia White is the Sapphire Award-winning author of A Wizard Scorned. Her current book, the western Edwina Parkhurst, Spinster, is available from Hard Shell Word Factory..

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