The bitter rivalry between two employees of antique collecting television shows heats up when they come to Hemlock Falls to have it out in a cooking contest. And it's a good thing that inn owners Meg and Sarah Quilliam are experts at appraising motives for murder when one of them keels over on camera...

Review

The tiny Upstate New York town of Hemlock Falls is in an uproar.  Not only is antiques appraiser Edmund Tree holding his high-profile wedding to Rose Ellen Whitman at the local inn, but he’s also announced he’ll be taping a special Hemlock Falls episode of his television show, Your Ancestor’s Attic, the week before the ceremony.  Innkeeper Sarah “Quill” Quilliam-McHale and her sister, Chef Meg Quilliam, appreciate the extra business the two events are bringing their way, but to call the engaged couple high-maintenance would be an understatement.  And then there’s the matter of the media circus that seems to be following in their wake – a situation only made more chaotic when Tree’s low-class rival, Pawn-O-Rama host Joseph “Belter” Barcini, rolls into town with his crew, intent to steal the spotlight. 

The pair nearly comes to blows, but ultimately agrees to settle their differences in a more civilized (and television-friendly) manner:  a cook-off.  Everything proceeds according to plan – until Tree is poisoned and drops dead in the middle of the competition.  Who killed the TV host, and why?  Can Quill help the local sheriff get to the bottom of the matter before most of the suspects leave town, or is the unsolved murder of Edmund Tree destined to become a dark cloud hanging over their fair burg?

Dread on Arrival is the seventeenth of Claudia Bishop’s Hemlock Falls Mysteries.  It’s the first book I’ve read in this series, but I can say with certainty it won’t be the last.  I’ll grant you, the notion that two antiques appraisers would attempt to settle a feud by participating in a cook-off is kind of far-fetched, but if you can get past that, Bishop’s latest is truly a delightful read.  The story is fun, the pace is quick, and the plot is marvelously clever.  Tree’s murder doesn’t take place until two-thirds of the way through the book, but trust me when I tell you that doesn’t matter; while Dread on Arrival is a murder mystery, it’s also a tale of friendships, lies, rivalries, and small-town politics, and there are many more mysteries swirling around Hemlock Falls than the matter of who killed Edmund Tree.

Bishop’s prose is graceful, witty, and intelligent.  Her descriptions are lush and vivid, imbuing her book with a very strong sense of atmosphere.  And as was the case with the Stars Hollow of Amy Sherman-Palladino’s Gilmore Girls, small town quirk, charm, and drama abound in Hemlock Falls, but never annoy or overwhelm.

Quill is a smart, strong, and engaging (if occasionally overbearing) heroine, but Bishop’s biggest successes, character-wise, can be found amongst the supporting cast.  Businesswoman, mayoral candidate, and all-around force-of-nature Marge Peterson-Schmidt simultaneously provides conflict and comic relief.  Quill’s sister Meg and her rival Clarissa “Clare” Sparrow are the kind of temperamental, unpredictable, food-loving, wine-quaffing women I’d consider myself lucky to call friends.  And Edmund Tree is such a pretentious, demanding, condescending snob that you’ll be praying for his slaying from page one.  Perhaps the only misstep is the Barcini family, who seem positively cartoon-like when compared to the realistic, nuanced personalities who otherwise populate the book, but that’s less a complaint than it is an observation.

If you’re a fan of good writing and small-town mysteries, you should read this book, and read it now; you won’t be disappointed.  I, for one, will be mining Bishop’s back catalog whilst standing in line for the sequel.

Reviewed by Kat N.

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