Best Laid Plans

Lake George Mystery #3

by Anne White

Mayor Loren Graham is counting on Emerald Point's new community center to attract the tourists the town needs to recover financially from the devastating effects of the previous year's tornado. And she's pulling out all the stops to make sure everything's ready for the start of the summer season on Memorial Day. But Loren's best laid plans can't stem the run of misfortune plaguing the Lake George community. First, a body in contemporary clothing turns up among the statues of Rogers' Rangers in a French and Indian War display case, a body which disappears before it can be identified. Then, as the town gathers to celebrate the center's opening, a mysterious explosion disrupts the festivities. A few nights later, attractive, popular Madeline Hathaway, a driving force on the center committee, is found murdered outside her elegant lakeside home. Madeline kept many secrets, both from her wealthy but socially inept husband, Ted, and from the new friends she made after moving to the lake. When Madeline's poor relations arrive in Emerald Point unexpectedly, they ask Loren for help. As Loren comes to their aid, she learns more than she bargained for about Madeline's past and a secret affair which will shock the town and turn her own life upside down.

224 pages, Paperback

First published July 3, 2011

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Anne lives in Glens Falls, NY and is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, the Lake George Arts Project, the Adirondack Center For Writing, and the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council. In conjunction with her novels, she writes articles for Mystery Scene, Mystery Readers Journal and local and regional publications. She is married and the mother of six children.

Series:
* Lake George Mystery

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loren Graham is the mayor of Emerald Point. While the town is preparing to drum up more business for tourist season, someone else has plans on how to go about it. Ideas like a dead body stuffed in a display case of the French and Indian War memorabilia that appears one moment and the next disappears or how about finding Emerald Point’s very own, Madeline Hathaway’s body at the bottom of some stone stairs at her lakeside home. Mayor Graham can’t allow murders to start popping up all over her town, so she decides to take matters into her own hands and figure out who is behind all this mayhem. The closer Mayor Graham gets to the truth the crazier she looks. The reason for this is because every time the police or anyone shows up, the bodies disappear as if nothing ever happened. Can Mayor Graham get to the bottom of things before Emerald Point gets a bad rap?

Best Laid Plans is the third book in Anne White’s Lake George mystery series. I have not read the other books in this series but Best Laid Plans can be read without having read the other books prior to Best Laid Plans. Now having said that I am sorry to say that I did not like this book as well as I thought I would. The characters were fine and the plot was good but for me I had a hard time staying focused throughout the book. The beginning was good, the middle was alright and towards the end I was reading the last few chapters just to have it end. There are not many books that I have come across where I did not like them but Best Laid Plans was not one of them this time. I might try another book by this author sometime in the future.

[Ferne (Enthusiastic Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do not select books to read based on the cover art but I was intrigued by the dramatic difference between the artwork on the first cover and the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th novel of the series. The answer is the change in publisher. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th novels were published by Stephanie and Shawn Reilly of Hilliard and Harris which in turn offers the book design services of S.A. Reilly. I only wish that the remainder of the series had also been published by Oak Tree Press, Springfield, IL. Cover Design by Yvet and Cover Art by Mary Montague Sikes for "Affinity for Murder" added to the overall experience with the beautiful and intriguing design of a white orchid on black as referenced in the telling of Lake George's most famous summer resident, Georgia O'Keeffe. For me, the art design by S.A. Reilly added nothing to the series and actually detracted the series experience.

Anne White's writing however continues to swirl the reader into the life of main character, Mayor Loren Graham, her neighbors, friends, and the community of Emerald Point. I have really enjoyed the faster pace of the novels than can be found in some cozy mysteries which is also shown by my delight in just wanting to pick up one novel after another to resume reading the series. I can hardly believe that I'll now move to the final novel in the series, "Cold Winter Nights."

http://thefreegeorge.com/thefreegeorg...

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[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stumbled across this book used and since it takes place on Lake George, not far from me, my curiosity made me buy it. I like cozies and here was one set locally, so to speak. Not only was it a good mystery I felt for a cozy it was particularly good. The plot, setting, characters sharp and fleshed out. Quite impressed with the writing.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mayor Loren Graham is counting on Emerald Point's new community center to attract the tourists the town needs to recover financially from the devasting effects of the previous year's tornado. And she's pulling out all the stops to make sure everything's ready for the start of the summer season on Memorial Day. But Loren's best laid plans can't stem the run of misfortune plaguing the LG community. First a body in contemporary clothing turns up among the statues of Roger's Rangers in a French & Indian War display case...a body which disappears before it can be indentified. Then , as the town gathers to celebrate the center's opening, a mysterious explosion disrupts the festivities. A few nights later, attractive Madeline Hathaway, a driving force on the center committee is found murdered outside her elegant lakeside home. Madeline kept many secrets from her wealthy but socially inept husband, Ted and from the new friends she made after moving to the lake. When Madeline't poor relations arrive in Emerald Point unexpectedly, they ask Loren for help. As Loren comes to their aid, she learns more than she bargained for about Madeline's past & a secret affair whick will shock the town & turn her own life upside down.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read while waiting at Glens Falls Hospital for SO having knee replaced!

I had read one of Anne White's previous Lake George mysteries so this was a continuation. Was attached to the characters quickly and the story flowed to a satisfying ending. For me, recognizing locations in any book is a big draw. So I will read more of this series! (The only downfall was some repetition of descriptions which didn't move the story along)