DEADLY DAGGERS by Joyce & Jim Lavene

A Renaissance Faire Mystery
Berkley Prime Crime Mystery
Release Date September 7, 2010
3rd Book in this Series

Greetings and Salutations,

It's a Renaissance Faire complete with Robin Hood and his Merry Men, a Pirate Queen and her Pillagers, a Brotherhood of Monks, a Wizard, Serfs, Fairies, Wenches and Nobility, what could go wrong.

This tome, following Wicked Weaves and Ghastly Glass, finds college professor, Jessie Morton, apprenticing with master sword-smith Daisy, as she continues research for her Ph.D. dissertation, Proliferation Of Medieval Crafts in Modern Times.

Excitement in the village is growing as it is learned that the famous, Alastair the Great, a master dueler, also thought to be immortal, is making a special appearance, for a duel, at their faire village.  Jessie is stunned to learn that Alastair and Daisy were involved in a courtly love affair several years ago.  Alastair is also known for his collection of deadly daggers and possession of these daggers may be the cause of his untimely death, which also lays to rest the question of his immortality.  

Due to their past and a her victory over Alistair in a surprise preview of the main event, Daisy is a prime suspect for his murder. She also has no alibi for the time of the death and one of the deadly daggers is found in her bag.  The case seems open and shut, but Jessie and her boyfriend, Sir Bailiff, Chase, thinketh there is much more to the story, as the daggers continue to be found all over the village.

Jessie is doing everything she can to find the real killer when Chase's brother and his ex-fiancee, show up at the village to drag Chase back home to the family business no matter the cost.  She will find the killer and fight to keep her man if it the last thing she does, and if she is not careful it just may be.

This has been an enjoyable series, set in a magical place and time, with a truly colorful cast of characters, and more than their share of mysterious happenings. My one problem with the series was the many love stories taking place in the backgrounds, both present relationships and past, it was sometimes a little overwhelming.   As these are cozy mysteries there are no steamy love scenes, just the perception of them in the background.  The story is full of humor and is a great whodunit, a true mystery.  It will be interesting to see where Jessie apprentices next.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Berkley Prime Crime, a division of Penguin Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”