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Emmie & Dessa Mysteries #3
Airplanes and Alibis: A 1920 Historical Cozy Mystery
Murder comes flying in.
Spring 1920: Emmie, Dessa, and Hank are home for Easter break, and the small town of Cora, Georgia is abuzz with excitement for the air show, to be hosted by a famous silent film star. The festivities go horribly wrong when the host is killed during the first day's events.
Hank's pilot friend from the Great War is a suspect, but could the actor's glamorous Hollywood girlfriend be involved? This case is twistier than the stunts the pilots perform.
A historical whodunit with LGBT+ characters that will leave you spinning, this book is perfect for a mystery fan looking to be transported to another time... and a place high in the sky. Get it now.
Spring 1920: Emmie, Dessa, and Hank are home for Easter break, and the small town of Cora, Georgia is abuzz with excitement for the air show, to be hosted by a famous silent film star. The festivities go horribly wrong when the host is killed during the first day's events.
Hank's pilot friend from the Great War is a suspect, but could the actor's glamorous Hollywood girlfriend be involved? This case is twistier than the stunts the pilots perform.
A historical whodunit with LGBT+ characters that will leave you spinning, this book is perfect for a mystery fan looking to be transported to another time... and a place high in the sky. Get it now.
104 pages, Paperback
Published September 28, 2021
About the author
Connie B. Dowell
48 books109 followersConnie B. Dowell writes young adult fiction and nonfiction. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Georgia and a Masters of Library and Information Science from Valdosta State University. She lives in Virginia with her husband, where they host a history podcast, One Hundred Centuries, and both consume far more coffee than is probably wise.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 10, 2021
Emmie and Dessa are eagerly awaiting their college acceptance letters or rejection... Neither knows what they want to do if they don't make it to college. Dessa truly wants to and needs to escape her parents but how can she do that when her money is all tied up? As a distraction, Emmie proposes they go watch the airshow at McPherson's farm. Hank meets them there and introduces them to his friend Dewey, a war pilot turned barnstormer. While Dessa is eager for a ride in the biplane, Emmie thinks her feet would be better off on the ground, but how can she tell Hank when he's so excited to share his passion with her? It comes as an exciting surprise when the announcer and leader of festivities, famous actor, Ellis Singleton, arrives with his girlfriend, actress Agnes Lorraine. When Ellis drops dead suddenly, Dessa recognizes the smell of cyanide and knows the actor's death was no accident. Uncle Charlie warns the girls away from investigating because his job is on the line but their curiosity and good judgement get the better of them. Can they help solve the murder before the suspect gets away? Can they do it discreetly so Uncle Charlie doesn't lose his job? Will they get into college and pursue their dreams?
This story was not the best written of the trilogy. It's plodding and the writing is pedestrian. I noticed quite a few typos/grammatical errors that need to be fixed. The whodunit and why ends up being obvious before Emmie and Dessa figure it out. I did like the history woven into the story. I'm not interested in planes and have read other stories about barnstorming, I was interested in how this town in Georgia was becoming more conservative in 1920 and how Uncle Charlie's view of the law was too progressive for many people (like Dessa's parents). Yet those same people were eager to vote in a sheriff that could be bribed to allow the sale of alcohol to those who could afford to pay.
I didn't care who killed Ellis. The man was so arrogant, unable to share the spotlight, clinging to his fame when it seemed to be waning. Although he didn't deserve to die, I didn't care for him in any way. His fiance, Agnes, is not any better. She, too, has a big ego and is very selfish. I wouldn't be so surprised if she killed him. I think she has a history with Dewey. He doesn't like women pilots and is not progressive in his view of women but his hatred of Agnes seems to go beyond that. I think she threw him over and he's "sore" about it. I don't like Dewey very much but Hank trusts him and Emmie trusts Hank so I guess Dewey is not a suspect but he sure seems guilty to me. Ellis's agent, Cecil Thorpe, is a dim-witted lackey who followed his client back east on his client's say so without knowing what the plan was. Cecil is kind of bumbling and foolish.
The main characters are more interesting than the mystery and I wished there was more character and plot development there. I can relate to Emmie's desire for adventure and wanting to make her family proud. I can also relate to Dessa's need for freedom to be herself away from her toxic parents. Sadly, her parents' conservative views are pretty normal for her time and place. Emmie's fun family is more progressive than I would have expected from a small town in Georgia.
This is the first book where Emmie and Hank have a romantic partnership. Previously I haven't felt any chemistry between them and thought she was dating him because of their childhood friendship and because he was recovering from the war. I would have liked more showing rather than telling though.
The ending is very abrupt. I need more closure than that if the series is going to end here.
This story was not the best written of the trilogy. It's plodding and the writing is pedestrian. I noticed quite a few typos/grammatical errors that need to be fixed. The whodunit and why ends up being obvious before Emmie and Dessa figure it out. I did like the history woven into the story. I'm not interested in planes and have read other stories about barnstorming, I was interested in how this town in Georgia was becoming more conservative in 1920 and how Uncle Charlie's view of the law was too progressive for many people (like Dessa's parents). Yet those same people were eager to vote in a sheriff that could be bribed to allow the sale of alcohol to those who could afford to pay.
I didn't care who killed Ellis. The man was so arrogant, unable to share the spotlight, clinging to his fame when it seemed to be waning. Although he didn't deserve to die, I didn't care for him in any way. His fiance, Agnes, is not any better. She, too, has a big ego and is very selfish. I wouldn't be so surprised if she killed him. I think she has a history with Dewey. He doesn't like women pilots and is not progressive in his view of women but his hatred of Agnes seems to go beyond that. I think she threw him over and he's "sore" about it. I don't like Dewey very much but Hank trusts him and Emmie trusts Hank so I guess Dewey is not a suspect but he sure seems guilty to me. Ellis's agent, Cecil Thorpe, is a dim-witted lackey who followed his client back east on his client's say so without knowing what the plan was. Cecil is kind of bumbling and foolish.
The main characters are more interesting than the mystery and I wished there was more character and plot development there. I can relate to Emmie's desire for adventure and wanting to make her family proud. I can also relate to Dessa's need for freedom to be herself away from her toxic parents. Sadly, her parents' conservative views are pretty normal for her time and place. Emmie's fun family is more progressive than I would have expected from a small town in Georgia.
This is the first book where Emmie and Hank have a romantic partnership. Previously I haven't felt any chemistry between them and thought she was dating him because of their childhood friendship and because he was recovering from the war. I would have liked more showing rather than telling though.
The ending is very abrupt. I need more closure than that if the series is going to end here.
January 9, 2021
April 1920. Emmie and Dessa are off to the McPherson's farm for the Airshow. Where they meet Hank and his friend, fellow pilot, Dewey Albright. Star of the show is actor Ellis Singleton who is the show's announcer. Unfortunately the air show is mired by a murder. But what is the motive. The Sheriff investigates with the help of Emmie, Dessa and Hank.
An enjoyable cozy historical mystery.
Received a copy from the author.
Received a copy from the author
An enjoyable cozy historical mystery.
Received a copy from the author.
Received a copy from the author
January 22, 2021
Typos, grammar,
I thought I would like this book at first because it covered a lot of issues from the early years of the last century. But there are so many typos and grammatical errors that I couldn't finish it. If those errors were fixed I would love to start it over. I do feel it has A strong story line.
I thought I would like this book at first because it covered a lot of issues from the early years of the last century. But there are so many typos and grammatical errors that I couldn't finish it. If those errors were fixed I would love to start it over. I do feel it has A strong story line.
February 13, 2021
Barnstorming Murder
Set 1n 1920, best friends Emmie and Dessa are home on Easter break from college. Attending a barnstorming event, they witness a Murder and become involved in solving it while dealing with what to do with their lives if they're not accepted for a Bachelor's degree.
Set 1n 1920, best friends Emmie and Dessa are home on Easter break from college. Attending a barnstorming event, they witness a Murder and become involved in solving it while dealing with what to do with their lives if they're not accepted for a Bachelor's degree.
December 18, 2021
Clever, entertaining, inclusive, and fun. A great female-driven cozy mystery set in 1920. The war is over, pilots are doing barnstorming shows around the country, and a Hollywood star is murdered in Cora, Georgia. Can Emmie and Dessa solve the mystery? And will they make it to be accepted to university?
January 3, 2021
I absolutely need more Emmie and Dessa! I think so far this one is my favorite out of the series so far.
October 10, 2021
I thought it was too short still liked it
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May 4, 2021It’s Easter break, 1920 and Emmie and Dessa are back in Cory, Georgia. Both girls are anxiously awaiting the results of their applications to University of Georgia when a barnstorming air show comes to the small town. When one of the participants—a famous movie actor—is killed, the two friends are keen to catch the killer.
Essentially, the third book in the series is about the same as the first two. The episodes and characters deserve more exploration. A scene where Dessa tells her aunt—who she hasn’t seen for 10 years—that she is gay goes by without a single remark. Emmie, who hasn’t said boo to her “beau” Hank in the first two books, suddenly refers to him as the only may she has ever loved (even though Hank is probably one of the only man she has ever spoken more than two sentences to), wants to jump into his arms, and kisses him in public. They halve never kissed in either of the first 2 books, so this is quite a surprise, but we get none of Emmie’s feelings about this. In other words, I don’t feel the connection between them; I am simply told about it.
The solution is, again, more of a confession, but I’ll give the two girls credit for investigating. The introduction of Emmie’s nosy grandmother is more of an intrusion than semi-comic relief. Better to flesh out the characters that are already there than introduce new ones.
What was most surprising about this book, though, is the number of typos. I found 2 dozen and I probably missed as many more. In addition, there were continuity problems. At one point Emmie expresses surprise that her grandmother has a camera, even though Emmie herself tells the reader about the camera 5 pages earlier. Another time, Emmie expresses some disgust at a woman’s cavalier attitude about smoking, even though—in book 1—she tells us that she was herself a smoker. The snake motif near the end of the book is a silly one, although to be fair, Micky Knight throws a snake into a man’s airplane in Death by the Riverside. To be even fairer, I thought that it was silly then, too.
I wish that the three books in this series were better. I wish that even one of them was better. But the author—and who knows, maybe most of her other readers, too—are satisfied with Young Adult novellas that touch on important subjects without ever going into them deeply enough to create a truly satisfying story for any age or reader. This seems to be a 2.5 type of series.
I read the ebook version of this novel that was available on Amazon in late 2020.
Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 1250 other lesbian mysteries by over 400 authors.
Essentially, the third book in the series is about the same as the first two. The episodes and characters deserve more exploration. A scene where Dessa tells her aunt—who she hasn’t seen for 10 years—that she is gay goes by without a single remark. Emmie, who hasn’t said boo to her “beau” Hank in the first two books, suddenly refers to him as the only may she has ever loved (even though Hank is probably one of the only man she has ever spoken more than two sentences to), wants to jump into his arms, and kisses him in public. They halve never kissed in either of the first 2 books, so this is quite a surprise, but we get none of Emmie’s feelings about this. In other words, I don’t feel the connection between them; I am simply told about it.
The solution is, again, more of a confession, but I’ll give the two girls credit for investigating. The introduction of Emmie’s nosy grandmother is more of an intrusion than semi-comic relief. Better to flesh out the characters that are already there than introduce new ones.
What was most surprising about this book, though, is the number of typos. I found 2 dozen and I probably missed as many more. In addition, there were continuity problems. At one point Emmie expresses surprise that her grandmother has a camera, even though Emmie herself tells the reader about the camera 5 pages earlier. Another time, Emmie expresses some disgust at a woman’s cavalier attitude about smoking, even though—in book 1—she tells us that she was herself a smoker. The snake motif near the end of the book is a silly one, although to be fair, Micky Knight throws a snake into a man’s airplane in Death by the Riverside. To be even fairer, I thought that it was silly then, too.
I wish that the three books in this series were better. I wish that even one of them was better. But the author—and who knows, maybe most of her other readers, too—are satisfied with Young Adult novellas that touch on important subjects without ever going into them deeply enough to create a truly satisfying story for any age or reader. This seems to be a 2.5 type of series.
I read the ebook version of this novel that was available on Amazon in late 2020.
Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 1250 other lesbian mysteries by over 400 authors.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews