In Granny Undercover by Harper Lin, Barbara Gold, retired CIA agent, goes to the garden store to get material for the garden she intends to plant for her new kitten. There, she hears talk about the president of the topiary society, who died after getting almost decapitated with his hedge clippers. Considering that this sounds suspicious, Barbara goes to the garden where the death occurred and looks for evidence. It soon becomes apparent to her that this was no accident or suicide, but rather a murder. Thus, Barbara has found herself another case to investigate and keep herself interested.
The plot of this book was fun with creative touches and full of humor. Barbara has fun sleuthing and poking into the lives of the members of the garden club. We see her meet a new senior citizen man who has no idea whom he is really pursuing and also have a discussion about YA books with her 13-year-old grandson. And then there is the fight with the two senior citizen men rolling on the grass, throwing punches at each other.
The characters are as delightful as the details of the plot. Barbara is fun with her straight- forward, matter of fact approach to the fact that a septuagenarian is solving a murder. I also enjoyed Octavian, who seems to be developing as a love interest for Barbara. I just hope that he can appreciate such a capable (and deadly) woman as much as he appreciates her looks. The other character I had fun with is Barbara’s grandson, Martin. At 13, her is generally not interested in his grandmother’s interests, but she has bonded with him over some books about fighting dragons, and he has a great time at the senior citizen fight. He truly does seem like your typical 13- year- old boy!
Sara Morsey returns to perform the audio edition of this book. She does a great job of sounding like a 70- something grandmother who is active and alert. She sounds like the ages of the characters she voices. I like the way she tends to make Barbara’s exploits sound matter-of-fact, as Barbara sees her self- appointed role of detective as mild compared to the work she did in the field. Morsey’s performance works effectively.
I had a great time visiting again with Barbara in Granny Undercover. It will be fun to see how she manages to keep her cover in the future as she seems firmly set on continuing her role as investigator. I would love to see the reactions of her family the first time they see her in action. It is really refreshing to read about a strong capable senior woman who doesn’t need to be rescued by a knight in shining armor. I give this book five stars!
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