The sleuthing Beary family are in fine form once again in the latest book titled After Rebecca and Other Mystery Stories by Garden Bay writer, playwright and marionette master Elizabeth Elwood. Fans of the series – this is her sixth book – will be happy to visit once more with whisky-swigging Bertram Beary who serves on city council, Juliette Ayers (nee Beary) who lives on the Sunshine Coast, and the singing Philippa Beary and her new beau, Vancouver Police Department detective Bob Miller. A wealth of other characters people these intricate stories.
The title story After Rebecca should be familiar to readers of British author Daphne du Maurier since Rebecca was one of du Maurier’s most famous novels. In the intriguing Elwood story, curious Philippa discovers a re-creation of the novel at a mansion in the wilds of Idaho where police have found new evidence in a cold case of murder.
The story The Boat Chain is set on the Sunshine Coast in a community suspiciously like Garden Bay and it features a wealthy, sexy, widow, Judith Fairlie, and her dysfunctional family of siblings and children who rafted their luxury yachts together in the harbour at Judith’s command. More than one clandestine activity is underway and it’s not long before Richard Beary, the RCMP detective, investigates.
In the story The Camera Lies, a new character, Bertram’s cousin, is introduced to the Beary family, the meddlesome Amanda Smythe-Piggott. The production crew of a werewolf fan film has taken over a park in Vancouver for their set, much to the annoyance of Bertram who likes to walk MacPuff the dog there. Amanda is hired as an extra on the film and fired almost immediately for insulting one of the stars. She becomes entangled in the kidnapping of a teenage heartthrob star and shows great Beary-style resourcefulness in the face of danger. Readers will hope they meet Amanda again in future books – she’s an irritating character, yet her panache is refreshing.
Elwood’s strength is in her characters though some, like Bertram’s wife, the always disapproving Edwina, seem stereotypical. The convoluted plot puzzlers give the reader’s brain a good workout and her settings, that range from Idaho to Prince Edward Island, broaden the scope of the story.
Elwood will be promoting and selling all of her series at the Festival of the Written Arts this weekend, Aug. 17 to 19.
The independent writers table is located in the tent by the Rockwood Pavilion where 14 local writers will display their self-published books and take turns talking with the public. Organizer Jan Jensen, a writer of healthy cookbooks, lists a variety of books including fiction from Norm Cuddy and a cookbook from Joan Beck. Patricia Hetherington, Lynne Pettinger, Margaret West and Barb Higgins all write memoir, in their various styles from essay to story-telling. Barbara Raphael’s poetry and Ken Custance’s fiction and poetry will also be on show. Katje and Eva van Loon write sci-fi and poetry while Leena Wright writes about estate planning and Joanie Higgs on how to meditate. It’s a good opportunity to meet the authors in a setting of bibliophiles.
