Casey and the Great Idea by Joan Lowery Nixon

It is a mystery, but the excitement is minimal, and the main character odd. Joan Lowery Nixon is a fantastic writer but this is not one of her best. Set in picturesque San Antonio, in the midst of the spring fiesta, an invitation to the reading of Madeline’s billionaire cousin Arnold Harmony’s will on his eighty-eighth birthday at a comfortable Paseo del Rio (Riverwalk) hotel, the family gathering together with executives from Harmony Chocolates, Arnold’s Company, turns into a tense, suspicion riddled murder mystery, with Jenny and her new found boyfriend, Carlos, journalism student turned bellboy for the vacation, having many near escapes from death, while pursuing the suspects. Only a few astute people guess the truth, behind Madeline’s undoubted success. But adding up all the clues to reach the solution is left to Jennifer. Her supreme gift is the art of giving an enigmatic smile, which quite often results in the guilty parties imagining that she has guessed their secrets, and blurting out the truth.

She herself, is supremely unaware of her brainy daughter’s help at every step, and tends to imagine that she picks up clues on her own. Madeline Jake’s reputation as a detective owes its fame to the TV watching public who revel in ‘detective writer turned real life sleuth’ TV serials. Jenny, on the other hand, has grown up on her late father’s collection of detective novels, and tales of hands on police investigation and procedure from her uncle Police Detective Bill. As an author, Madeline Jakes is great, but as a ‘hands on’ detective, she hasn’t a clue. Jenny loves her Mom and does not grudge her the acclaim she gets as a great detective. Jennifer Jakes is an unusual teenage sleuth, unusual in the sense that she solves mysteries behind the scenes, manipulating her mother’s role as a well-known mystery writer turned detective in real life.

Casey and the Great Idea by Joan Lowery Nixon