Hippie Wagon Homicide Twister Sisters Mysteries Book 1
Cosy Mysteries, Women Sleuths
Mildred Abbott
Feb 1, 2022
Kindle
476
amazon
Cordelia Davis lives with no regrets, despite her life changing drastically a half century ago when a tornado altered the destiny of the little Ozark town of Willow Lane. The town grew back stronger and more beautiful, and Cordelia, her sister, Pamela, and her best friend, Wanda, built a life to treasure.
As Willow Lane honors the memory of those lost and celebrates all that has been achieved, tragedy refuses to remain in the past. News of murder rocks the pastoral countryside when Cordelia discovers a body on her farm, beneath her beloved willow tree. And while the police make an immediate arrest, Cordelia finds herself untangling a web of lies and long-ago secrets.
With suspects in every nook of her cozy town—and an old flame knocking on her door—it will take all Cordelia’s tenacity to face the past and to weather the mysteries of Willow Lane.
Review By Sherry Perkins
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
“As our little group has experienced, you can know someone for years, decades, and have no idea what they’re capable of, or the secret lives they may be living.”—The Hippie Wagon Homicide
What’s not to like about this cozy mystery? It has helpful family trees, town maps, and a prologue disguised as a news story. Each chapter has an illustration of the person (or loved family pet) being discussed. A second chance romance is in story. There’s even a delicious recipe at the end of the book!
I suppose what was missing for me is that it’s not a Corgi Mystery such as the ones Mildred Abbott is perhaps best known for. Sometimes, when the author is so strongly identified with another series, that happens. This is not to say “Cordelia and the Hippie Wagon Homicide” wasn’t well-written, because it was.
The characters are detailed in development. There’s a nice blend between older and younger characters.Each has his or her place in the ever widening but unofficial investigation protagonist Cordelia becomes involved in. Cordelia, her sister, Wanda, and best friend, Pam were introduced in the Corgi Mysteries. They are better known as the Twister Sisters, a group of women who survived the twister that struck their small, cozy town some fifty years before. The Twister Sisters, ever since, have provided community support services—and are now serving meals, knitting up something for everyone, and doing general do-gooding.
However, twenty-two friends and family lost their lives during the past twister disaster. On the day the town gathers to remember those lost and to celebrate the survivors, a tragic accident occurs. It soon becomes apparent, though, that the accident isn’t accidental at all—it’s a murder.
Cordelia, having found the body after the celebration, is thrust into the middle of a series of surprising discoveries which leave her questioning what happened that fateful day fifty years ago when she was a teenager just coming of age in the turbulent 60s. But will she tie the clues together, understand their connection to the disaster, and expose the killer before it’s too late?
Regardless, Mildred Abbott is the kind of author I enjoy following. She has a knack for making ordinary folks relatable. By the time I read the next book in the series, I expect I’ll appreciate the Twister Sisters, their hippie van, and their adventures even more.
A 4-star review about a tragedy fifty-years in the making, and the small town of family and friends who set about making things groovy once again.