We are excited to announce that Hiding Gladys was reviewed by Robert C. Hahn in the latest issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine!
Hiding Gladys review by Robert C. Hahn
Amateur sleuths can come from virtually any profession but there aren’t very many whose primary field is geology. Lee Mims’s debut novel Hiding Gladys (Midnight Ink, $14.99) introduces geologist Cleo Cooper, who shows considerable promise as a series character who can carve her own audience niche. The forty-five-year-old geologist, while prospecting on her own in spare time from her consulting business, has made what might be a rare and valuable find of granite and has made a contract with elderly land owner Gladys Walton to drill and test on her property.
A series of incidents that begins with a rattlesnake in her Jeep, followed by a stray shot that wounds her dog, Tulip, followed by the discovery of a body dumped in a well near a tenant house on Gladys’s land ought to be enough to tell Cleo that things are not going to be easy. Add to that the fact that not only is Gladys not home when she tried to call on her but her obnoxious adult children Robert Earle and Shirley make it clear that they don’t want her around.
But things get even more serious when an accident sabotages the expensive test drilling and some of the core samples are stolen. Cleo is smart enough to seek legal help to make sure her contract with Gladys will hold up, regardless of her children’s efforts, and to take steps to safeguard her claim but with the drilling costing about thirty dollars per foot—roughly thirty-five thousand dollars per day—delays could exhaust her funds before she can provide proof of a million dollar granite mine.
A couple of handsome men provide Cleo with a combination of distractions, attractions, help, and advice both good and bad. One is ex-husband Bud Cooper and the other is fellow geologist Nash Finley.
Cleo is a bit slow to recognize just how greedy and how evil people can be, but once her dander is up and she realizes that the missing Gladys is in as much danger as her mining claim, she shows courage, initiative, and resilience. Readers will want to see more of this spunky geologist with a streak of independence and a passion for her profession.
Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine – April Issue – Booked and Printed Section
Hiding Gladys is available for purchase at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indie Bound