Book Review:

La Crescenta author Alice Zogg has hit her stride with her latest mystery novel. Chock full of entertaining trivia and chatty dialogue, Zogg has developed a style very similar to that of popular author Lillian Jackson Braun. “Final Stop Albuquerque” is the sixth book in Zogg’s self-published R.A. Huber series, yet one need not read the others to enjoy this most recent title.

Elena Campione appears to lead a charmed life. She lives in a South Pasadena mansion with her husband, Bruno, owner of Pasadena’s finest dance club, the Gem. She attends classes at the local community college, and is passionate about dancing, as was her late grandmother. In less than a year, Elena will inherit her grandmother’s fortune. Everything seems to be going well for Elena, until the day she is no longer there.

At first Elena’s friend Andi isn’t all that alarmed when she fails to show up for class, but after another week, and a no-show for dinner plans, Andi begins to suspect something is wrong.

Luckily, Andi works for private investigator R.A. Huber. Together, they begin unraveling the mystery surrounding Elena’s disappearance, and as it turns out, untimely demise.

The more they learn about Elena’s life, the longer the list of suspects grows. There’s the physicist father holding Elena’s trust, who is bitter his own mother would pass him up leaving all her money to Elena; an ex-lover turned go-kart enthusiast who still loves her; and Rocky Santoro and his jealous wife, Inger who manage Bruno’s new dance club in Arizona.

Both women nearly lose their lives in their quest to uncover the truth, and even Elena’s sister barely escapes the clutches of this ruthless killer.

Zogg’s main character is a feminine sleuth similar to the “noir” detectives found in the works of Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett, without the discreet bottle of spirits tucked away in her desk, or the lurking femme fatale. Older (retired) and wiser (married), Regula Agatha Huber is athletic, witty and shrewd, and keeps her cards close to her chest. She asks all the right questions with the poise and panache of a seasoned journalist, extracting important information from key characters with sheer charm and flattery.

While her characterization serves the novel well, Zogg occasionally diverts from her plot. The reader may enjoy reading about Go-Kart racing and motorcycles as they relate to characters in the story.

Chapter 19, however, is strictly about an Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial that does nothing to further the plot or develop any of the main characters. I suppose one might find it endearing as a tribute to the story’s setting of New Mexico, but really just distracts from the story as a whole.

Zogg holds her own with this latest “whodunit,” and many mystery fans will enjoy this contribution to the genre.

 LYDA TRUICK has a master of library and information science. She can be reached at lydacaine@email.com.