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dollycas's review
4.0
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Helma Zukas is a no nonsense woman, some would call her uptight, or obsessive compulsive, I call her entrenched in her ways. She does remind me of a few librarians back in the day. Hair in a bun, glasses set perfectly on her nose, clothes that cover and do not enhance her figure. She is only 36 but she is who she is and there is no changing her. She also has a keen attention to detail and that makes her a great amateur sleuth. Her best-friend, Ruth, is the total opposite of Helma in every way. She is the perfect Watson to Helma’s Sherlock.
I really enjoyed this mystery. A dead body in the library gives us a fantastic start. Helma is drawn to investigate because the murder has brought disorder to her very orderly life. The police don’t seem to have any suspects. When Helma finds a clue in the city directory she decides to figure things out for herself before sharing anything with the police. This probably wasn’t her brightest idea. There were several suspects and I missed some important clues because I put it together just before the killer was revealed.
Helma may not be the kind of main character we are used to reading about in cozy mysteries today. Maybe that is why I liked her, she is different. I even found her quite funny at times in a dry humorous kind of way.
This was a fast read, not overly complex, with interesting characters. The “Z” book for my challenge is complete. I plan to read the next one, Miss Zukas and the Island Murders, for the Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge next year.
Helma Zukas is a no nonsense woman, some would call her uptight, or obsessive compulsive, I call her entrenched in her ways. She does remind me of a few librarians back in the day. Hair in a bun, glasses set perfectly on her nose, clothes that cover and do not enhance her figure. She is only 36 but she is who she is and there is no changing her. She also has a keen attention to detail and that makes her a great amateur sleuth. Her best-friend, Ruth, is the total opposite of Helma in every way. She is the perfect Watson to Helma’s Sherlock.
I really enjoyed this mystery. A dead body in the library gives us a fantastic start. Helma is drawn to investigate because the murder has brought disorder to her very orderly life. The police don’t seem to have any suspects. When Helma finds a clue in the city directory she decides to figure things out for herself before sharing anything with the police. This probably wasn’t her brightest idea. There were several suspects and I missed some important clues because I put it together just before the killer was revealed.
Helma may not be the kind of main character we are used to reading about in cozy mysteries today. Maybe that is why I liked her, she is different. I even found her quite funny at times in a dry humorous kind of way.
This was a fast read, not overly complex, with interesting characters. The “Z” book for my challenge is complete. I plan to read the next one, Miss Zukas and the Island Murders, for the Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge next year.
icameheretoread's review
1.0
If Nancy Drew grew up to be an anal-retentive, socially awkward weirdo who also happened to be a librarian she may be Helma Zukas. Then again, as Zukas spends more of the story worrying about manners and cleanliness and less time actually caring about the murder I'm not sure it's fair to say she even has one detective bone in her body. At first, I hung in there just to read about Ruth. As Helma can't seem to stand her only friend, how can the reader come to care about her? It's also eye-roll inducing that Helma is so incredibly strange and spinstery and yet every single man (population 2) is enamored with her. Also, one more sailboat in the harbor description and I was going to throw it across the room...
I cannot believe this was written in 1994, or that Helma Zukas is supposed to be 30-something years old.
Please do not judge librarians by how they are depicted in this story.
Read for a book challenge (read a book in which the protagonist shares an occupation with you). Sadly, I had read every thing else that featured a librarian.
I cannot believe this was written in 1994, or that Helma Zukas is supposed to be 30-something years old.
Please do not judge librarians by how they are depicted in this story.
Read for a book challenge (read a book in which the protagonist shares an occupation with you). Sadly, I had read every thing else that featured a librarian.
craftyhilary's review
3.0
Not bad. I wasn't a huge fan of Miss Zukas, being a little too library-stereotypical (although not entirely), but the library stuff rang so true it's clear the author has, shall we say, intimate knowledge of the profession.
metta's review against another edition
3.0
I'd have liked this book more if Miss Zukas wasn't such a stick in the mud. It wouldn't surprise me if her friend Ruth was driven to drink because of Zukas' lack of good humor/lack of personality/overall attitude. (Aren't we readers supposed to like the main character?)
murderbydeath's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure what to think about this one - it started off with Miss Zukas being so prudish and prim that it wasn't enjoyable to read, but I could see character development as the story progressed. I guess the culprit almost from the beginning, but it was still a great storyline.
booklover81's review against another edition
5.0
I am currently reading Miss Zukas And The Library Murders by Jo Dereske.
Miss Zukas And The Library Muders
Jo Dereske
Mystery
258 pages
Meet Miss Zukas . . . the very proper, exceedingly conscientious, and relentlessly curious local librarian of tiny Bellehaven, Washington—and one heck of an amateur sleuth!
The Bellehaven police are baffled when a dead body turns up right in the middle of the library's fiction stacks. But Miss Helma Zukas—who never fails to make note of the slightest deviation from the norm of everyday life—is not willing to let this rather nasty disruption stand. Her precious literary sanctuary has been violated, and if the local law cannot get to the bottom of this case, Miss Zukas certainly intends to—with the help of her not-so-proper best friend, Ruth, a six-foot-tall bohemian artist with a nose for gossip and a penchant for getting into trouble. But their research project is bringing them a little too close to a killer . . . who'd like nothing better than to write Helma and Ruth out of the story completely!
Miss Zukas And The Library Muders
Jo Dereske
Mystery
258 pages
Meet Miss Zukas . . . the very proper, exceedingly conscientious, and relentlessly curious local librarian of tiny Bellehaven, Washington—and one heck of an amateur sleuth!
The Bellehaven police are baffled when a dead body turns up right in the middle of the library's fiction stacks. But Miss Helma Zukas—who never fails to make note of the slightest deviation from the norm of everyday life—is not willing to let this rather nasty disruption stand. Her precious literary sanctuary has been violated, and if the local law cannot get to the bottom of this case, Miss Zukas certainly intends to—with the help of her not-so-proper best friend, Ruth, a six-foot-tall bohemian artist with a nose for gossip and a penchant for getting into trouble. But their research project is bringing them a little too close to a killer . . . who'd like nothing better than to write Helma and Ruth out of the story completely!
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