Death and the Crossed Wires

Trudy Roundtree Mystery #6

by Linda Berry

Pastor Josh Easterling is about to baptize sixteen-year-old Crys Cleary when he suddenly drops dead into the baptistry. Turns out some faulty wiring in the microphone led to his untimely and tragic electrocution. Officer Trudy Roundtree looks into a case of possible tampering and discovers the good reverend was murdered. The question is why….

Trudy, who knows the small-town oddities and eccentricities of Ogeechee, Georgia, inside and out, suspects the truth might involve the girl Crys. One by one her parents, her boyfriend and now her preacher have died. The poor girl believes she is cursed and keeps running away so her beloved grandfather won't be the next victim. As Trudy works overtime to keep one eye on Crys and another on some break-ins across town, she looks deeper into Crys's past. What she uncovers is a killer wily enough to hide in plain sight.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime

Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Linda Berry's Trudy Roundtree novels are set in rural south Georgia, but Linda lives in Colorado, where she's a community arts activist and an insatiable theatregoer. Other published credits include poetry, plays, preschool currriculum, and a newspaper entertainment column.

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

Reviews

[Cheryl]

The story seemed to drag, even though the idea was good. A pastor Josh is electrocuted when he is baptizing 16 year old Crys. It wasn’t an accident and Crys runs away. Officer Trudy works on finding Crys and trying to tie 3 other deaths into the pastor’s.

[Paula]

I was torn between 4 or 5 stars. I really enjoyed the book but I figured out who committed the crime and even how they would prove it before the characters did. On the other hand, I loved the use of southern phrases from time to time that only true southerners would understand and laugh out loud when reading them. I definitely want to read some more of the author’s books.

[RC Prentice]

The appeal of this cozy mystery hinges on implied insider knowledge of southern phrases, quirky secondary characters, humor, and small-town Georgia life a la Andy Griffith. The plot is simple and easy to follow; there are relatively few main characters; and the means of murder is clever and unique.

[Marti]

I finished this series and will miss Trudy. I want to know how things progress with Paul, and, as I've said about other books, I wish Delcie was more of a character.

[Sue]

Trudy Roundtree of the Ogeechee, GA, police department investigates when youth pastor Josh Easterling is electrocuted right before he is to baptize 16-year-old Crys Cleary at the local Baptist Church. Crys disappears believing she is a jinx because all those who have cared for her have died (her father, her mother, her boyfriend, and now her pastor), and she wants to protect her grandfather—the only one she has left. Trudy convinces her cousin police chief Henry Huckabee that these deaths may be connected, so with his permission, she delves into the past to try to find the link that will bring a murderer to justice while trying to locate and then protect Crys. The case also causes Trudy to resolve some issues in her own life. Well-drawn, likable main characters, quirky secondary characters, humor, and small-town Georgia life add to this sixth in a series that will appeal to those who enjoy the Andy Griffith television show and Joan Hess’ Maggody series.

[Susan]

When the youth pastor at the Baptist Church is electrocuted just before baptizing a neurotic teenager, policewoman Trudy Roundtree and her cousin, police chief Hen, begin to wonder just what links the series of deaths in her life. The experienced reader will get there before the Ogeechee police force, but then Trudy has other things on her mind, including her relationship with the local newspaper editor.

[Joann]

brief, funny mysteries. completed two today..

[Karen]

Cute mystery. Took awhile to get the story moving.

[Candace Davidson]

I read a few pages and couldn't finish. Couldn't keep my attention.