Dead Floating Lovers

May 15, 2009
Low water levels in a northern Michigan lake disclose two sets of bones complete with bullet holes.

Since she left her womanizing husband Jackson and moved to a lake cottage near Leetsville, Emily Kincaid's money has run low as her mystery novel collects rejection slips. She still transcribes Jackson's manuscripts and thinks of remarriage. Fresh from solving a murder with Deputy Dolly (Dead Dancing Women, 2008), she gets sucked into another investigation when Dolly turns up with a tale of bones found in Sandy Lake—bones that may be those of her long-missing husband Chet. The last she knew, he had run off with another woman, but mixed in with the bones are dog tags and a charm that Chet had given Dolly as a wedding present. Emily would rather plant her garden, play with her dog and work on another book. But she can't turn down the needy Dolly, especially when the bones are identified as those of Chet and an Odawa Indian girl. The stories on the murders Emily files as a stringer for an area newspaper bring her threats from two different Odawa men who want her to mind her own business and get the bones returned to the tribe. Emily and Dolly's digging in the past turns up enough horrifying secrets to lead to a resolution that satisfies even dour Dolly.

A mystery that keeps you guessing, together with the story of a woman slowly finding her voice.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

June 1, 2009
When called to investigate a human bone found on the bank of a lake in northern Michigan, Deputy Dolly Wakowski also finds the dog tags her husband gave her on their wedding day. The bones belong to the young woman in whose company he was last seen 13 years ago. Then a second body is found, and Dolly and local freelance writer Emily Kincaid must dig into Chet Wakowski's past to find a killer. Both women are alone for different reasons but find a growing friendship and admiration that began in "Dead Dancing Women", Buzzelli's first novel. VERDICT Readers will find the same strong sense of place and great characters that are hallmarks of Sarah Graves and Philip Craig.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2009
Emily Kincaids funds are running low, and her novel has been rejected by numerous publishers. Then her good friend Dolly Wakowski, a small-town Michigan police deputy, finds the skeletons of two people in a lake, one of which Dolly believes is her husband, who left her for another woman. The second skeleton may be the other womana member of the Odawa tribe. Emily helps Dolly investigate, even though she is threatened by members of the tribe who want to bury their own. Complicating matters, Emilys ex-husband is asking for favors, andEmily falls into bed with him, leading her to believe they may have a future together. But is she ready to leave her beloved northern Michigan home to return to Ann Arbor? In this second in a series, Dollys past is developed from her childhood in foster care to her short marriage to her strong belief in the importance of family. Quirky characters, the life of a journalist and a developing writer of fiction, and the focus on a woman ready to choose her lifes direction all add to the story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

May 18, 2009
In Buzzelli’s enjoyable sequel to 2008’s Dead Dancing Women
, aspiring mystery novelist Emily Kincaid, who moved to rural northern Michigan to pursue her writing career, is making ends meet by contributing stories to the local newspaper. Among her fans is Deputy Dolly, of the Leetsville police department, who calls on Emily after receding lake waters reveal a human skeleton. Evidence links Dolly’s former husband to the bones, and her loyalty to him leads her to rash action. The growing closeness between the two women is one of the book’s strengths, as is Buzzelli’s portrayal of the local Odawa tribe. Determined to be independent, Emily lets her loneliness lead her into making some poor decisions regarding her charming ex-husband. Despite too many extraneous details (“There were dishes to scrape and pile into the dishwasher”), the plot hangs together and builds to a satisfactory conclusion.