SUMMER GARDEN MURDER (Ann Ripley)

As a mystery, this was just OK. I found the "clues" pointing to Louise as the murderer to be a little contrived. The fact that, despite her standing in the community and obvious respect for the law, the police could assume that she was guilty based on those clues was unrealistic. That said, I would not discount this novel or this series. The characters are very likable and, despite the fact that this book is mid-series, I had no trouble figuring out who was who and what realtionship they had to each other. There were a few too many characters with similar names, though, and it was a bit hard to keep track!

Louise Eldridge is a TV garden show host and amateur sleuth who was instrumental in "putting away" murderer Peter Hoffman 4 years previously. Now released from a mental hospital (he was judged "guilty by reason of insanity"), Peter shows up at a neighborhood party and approaches Louise, giving everyone the impression that they plan to meet later to work out their differences. When Peter is discovered buried in Louise's azalea beds a few weeks later, Louise is the prime suspect. She, her husband, and two daughters start investigating and soon another body turns up in Louise's garden, turning up the heat on Louise's investigation. Her family needs to find the real killer before Louise is arrested and sent to jail. Despite the too-contrived clues that all lead to Louise, the ending of this novel is a pleasant surprise. The business deals, family dynamics, wedding plans, and neighborhood coffee clatches all add up to an enjoyable read.

HOWARD DEAN'S PRESCRIPTION FOR HEALTHCARE REFORM (Howard Dean, M.D.)

You don't have to be a Democrat or an Obama supporter to appreciate the time and research that went into this short, but very informative, book on healthcare. Dean divides his book into five sections and, while he is obviously supportive of President Obama's efforts to revamp our system of health insurance/healthcare, he presents well-researched facts about what works, what doesn't, and why.

In part 1, Profile of a Crisis, Dr. Dean writes about the problems with private health insurance, including the incomprehensibility of insurance policies to the general public, the loopholes that allow insurers to drop the individually insured when they develop health problems, and the problems of balancing care with the need for bigger and bigger profits to satisfy shareholders. Small businesses, the unemployed, and the chronically ill suffer most under our current system, but there is no alternative available, no competition to help keep prices down and offer an affordable way to pay for healthcare without draining financial resources. Not enough is being done in the U.S. to maintain health. Personal responsibility needs to be in the forefront of any healthcare reform plan. Right now 2/3 of us are overweight, which leads to more problems requiring more treatment down the line.

Dr Dean discusses aspects of Obama's health care plan and the overall need for a public option in part 2, A Prescription for Healthcare Reform, including a frank discussion of costs and how to pay for the program. As governor, Howard Dean revamped the health care system in Vermont, resulting in better coverage and significant saving to individuals and businesses in that state. Part 3, Who's Been Standing in the Way, covers special-interest groups and why opposition to a public option is so strong. Private insurers, big business, pharmaceutical companies, and conservatives are often opponents of reform, along with individuals who have been erroneously led to believe that the public option will resemble the British or Candian healthcare system. Preying on irrational fears and ignoring the facts have obscured some of the real issues.

Part 4, Shattering Healthcare Myths, is especially interesting because in it Dean presents short summaries of the develpment and administration of healthcare systems currently in effect in many European countries and talks about how some of them might work or not work in the U.S.. He also addresses many of the myths about healthcare reform. Finally, in Call to Action, Dr. Dean encourages everyone to step up and acknowledge their personal stake in healthcare by educating themselves on the facts. He presents fictional scenarios of families like yours or mine and what would happen to them, given certain health or employment situations, with and without healthcare reform. They are not sensational situations, but well thought-out, realistic possibilites.

I would recommend this short (132 pages) book for anyone who has questions about affordable health care. Approach it with an open, inquiring mind. Dr. Dean provides a lot of food for thought and a facts that you can either believe or research further. It's good to have someone, Democrat or not, whose primary concern is the welfare of U.S. citizens address these issues and lay out the facts in an organized and understandable way.

THE FIXER UPPER (Mary Kay Andrews)

The big question is this delightfully light and entertaining novel is, who or what really is "the fixer upper"? Is it the obvious, Birdsong, the dilapidated old house in Guthrie, GA that Uncle Norbert Dempsey left to Mitch Killebrew, or is it something or someone else?

Dempsey Killebrew, Mitch's daughter, is a Washington lawyer and lobbyist who is suddenly fired from her public relations job in the wake of a political scandal that leaves her reputation in shreds and her chance of finding another job nonexistent. She accepts her father's offer to "fix up" Birdsong and arrives to find the house in ruins and occupied by Miss Ella Kate Timmons, Uncle Norbert's caregiver and distant relative to Dempsey. She also finds a hilarious assemblage of local characters, including Mr. Tee Berryhill, Esq. and his father, who take Dempsey under their collective wing as a friend and client.

Dempsey is very likeable and if you enjoy home remodeling you will especially love this novel. She is, in some respects a superwoman (removing all of the tiles from the kitchen floor? sanding all of those cabinets?), while in others she is uncertain, lonely, and vulnerable. She learns well from her past decisions and behavior. This novel may be one of the best illustrations ever created of the old adage "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" (well, maybe not quite as innovative as Olivia Goldsmith's "The First Wives Club", but that involved several women and a collective plan). Her gradual acceptance of Alex's betrayal and his callous disregard for the ruination of her reputation and career spur her to action in a hilarious scene involving Alex and the FBI. This laugh-out-loud novel will be a welcome respite from the endless healthcare debate and economic crisis. Andrews always provides light reading at its best: appealing characters an settings, a story you can sink your teeth into, and generally hilarious situations that you KNOW could never happen but somehow seem like maybe they could.