Reviews
In another of her popular Jane Lawless mysteries, Robber's Wine, Ellen Hart weaves a delightful whodunit around a family secret hidden for years in the deep woods of Minnesota. The bonds that pull families together and apart become the very clues Jane and her sidekick Cordelia Thorn must sift through before they can get to the bottom of a revered family matriarch's murder.

Robber's Wine starts off slowly as Jane and Cordelia head to a much-needed summer vacation at Pokegama Lake, away from their hectic Minneapolis lives. On the way they decide to give old friend Anne Dumont a ride to her family home on the edge of Fosh Lake, where they stop to visit Anne's mother, Belle, another close friend. Upon arrival, however, they find that Belle has completely disappeared--the first intriguing step into a labyrinth of secrets that extends over three generations of the prominent Dumont clan.

Ellen Hart, winner of the 1994 Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery, draws out her latest taut thriller clue by buried clue. Jane's style is reminiscent of all the great amateur sleuths, as almost by accident she finds herself knee deep in the story. Jane is a likable sleuth who uses a combination of commonsense and persistence to find the murderer--not to mention a certain innate nosiness. It's her believability, and Cordelia's quirky sense of humor, that makes Robber's Wine such a page-turning pleasure to read.


From Publishers Weekly
As Minnesota restaurant owner Jane Lawless begins her vacation, the murder of a friend's mother sidetracks her in this seventh in the series (Faint Praise). Heading north on vacation, Jane and her friend Cordelia Thorne, take another friend, Anne Dumont, to her mother Belle's house where an urgent family meeting has been called. But when they arrive, Belle's lover, Helvi, says that Belle is missing. As Jane helps search for Belle, Anne's sister and brother arrive. The next morning, Belle's body is found at the foot of an incline. Jane finds Belle's purse with a note inside from Quinn Fosh, the town ne'er-do-well, saying he knows a secret about one of her children. Soon after Jane learns that Quinn was Belle's unacknowledged half-brother, he is killed at a Fourth of July fireworks display. Who is responsible for the deaths and why? The brother, whose political ambitions overshadow his judgment? The abused sister, who is running from her crazed husband? Or stolid Anne, who needs her mother's money to survive? Finding suspects in this transparent mystery among the children of a wealthy small-town family, Lambda-winner and former chef Hart tackles personal ambition, marital relationships and women's roles yesterday and today. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Series sleuth Jane Lawless, last seen in Faint Praise (LJ 10/1/95), and Minneapolis restaurant owner and college cohort Cordelia Thorn, artistic director in St. Paul, encounter murder and mayhem when they visit a friend at Lake Pokegama. A woman's disappearance is just the beginning of a string of sinister events. Recommended for its characters and witty prose.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
At long last, amateur sleuth Jane Lawless is taking a vacation and enjoying a consummated romantic interest. Both go awry, though, after Jane and wisecracking sidekick Cordelia Thorn visit an old friend on their way to northern Minnesota's lakes for respite from summer heat. Old pal Anne reports her mother mysteriously missing, and while the body is soon found, an unknown half-brother steps forward to complicate inheritance matters, prompting Jane into investigating the murky background of Anne's prominent small-town family. As for Jane's interest in Dr. Julia Martinsen, which has blossomed into fullblown love since Faint Praise , when Julia arrives on the scene of the crime, matters are further complicated for one of the most interesting lesbian sleuths around. The grisly events and the moody undertow pulling Anne's family back into a past filled with wrongdoing and deceit conspire with the fact that Cordelia's irrepressible irreverence is a bit muted this time to make Robber's Wine somewhat flat compared to previous series entries. Whitney Scott


Midwest Book Review
It's hot and humid in Minneapolis, and Jane Lawless and her sidekick Cordelia Thorn head north to beat the heat. But first they stop by Pokegama Lake to drop off their friend Anne Dumont at her family home, where soon after their arrival, a bizarre and fatal series of events strikes the Dumonts. The entire community is on red alert as a mysterious death in one of the town's most prominent families leads to a string of sinister and baffling occurrences, which Jane and Coredelia are determined to unravel -- before familial deception provides even more deadly. Robber's Wine once again demonstrates Ellen Hart's skill as a riveting story teller whose Jane Lawless novels appeal to anyone who enjoys a fast-paced, well-crafted mystery.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

When Minneapolis amateur sleuth Jane Lawless and her saucy sidekick Cordelia Thorn set out for the sleepy shores of Pokegama Lake to escape the urban swelter and visit with their old friend Anne Dumont, hope for a little R & R quickly heads south. Hot weather incites even hotter tempers as a mysterious death in the town's most prominent family triggers a bizarre series of events that sends the Dumont clan into a dizzying spiral of deadly intrigue.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

As Minnesota restaurant owner Jane Lawless begins her vacation, the murder of a friend's mother sidetracks her in this seventh in the series (Faint Praise). Heading north on vacation, Jane and her friend Cordelia Thorne, take another friend, Anne Dumont, to her mother Belle's house where an urgent family meeting has been called. But when they arrive, Belle's lover, Helvi, says that Belle is missing. As Jane helps search for Belle, Anne's sister and brother arrive. The next morning, Belle's body is found at the foot of an incline. Jane finds Belle's purse with a note inside from Quinn Fosh, the town ne'er-do-well, saying he knows a secret about one of her children. Soon after Jane learns that Quinn was Belle's unacknowledged half-brother, he is killed at a Fourth of July fireworks display. Who is responsible for the deaths and why? The brother, whose political ambitions overshadow his judgment? The abused sister, who is running from her crazed husband? Or stolid Anne, who needs her mother's money to survive? Finding suspects in this transparent mystery among the children of a wealthy small-town family, Lambda-winner and former chef Hart tackles personal ambition, marital relationships and women's roles yesterday and today. (Sept.)

Library Journal