A Little Late

Books by Kate and Sarah Klise are back on the library shelves, now that everything is due. Their creative mysteries are so popular with our readers that the titles are usually on reserve. This weekend I read Hollywood Dead Ahead, the latest novel in their 43 Old Cemetery Road series. Olive C. Spense, I.B. Grumply, and their adopted son Seymour Hope have been offered a movie contract, and Ignatius signs on the dotted line before reading the lengthy missive. Things are not quite as they seem out in Tinseltown, and soon, the three are faced with some threatening circumstances.

I like how the sisters structure their novels with letters, notes, newspaper articles, and advertisements making up the text, but their choices for character names really make me smile. When I read, I have pronunciations for names in my head. With this book, I struggled to figure out why one person's name was so appropriate for the series. I understood Moe Block Buster, the producer, and Phillip D. Rubbish, the director. Luke Ahtmee is the perfect name for the makeover artist. Ivana Oscar has been cast as the femme fatale instead of Olive herself. Not until I said this character's name out loud this morning did it make sense. Say it to yourself...it should not take a day to appreciate the humor of this secretary's name. Myra Manes.