Commitment To Die by Jennifer L. Jordan

Publisher:            Spinsters Ink

Lauren Fairchild had lunch with her sister and her adored niece, picked up a picnic lunch of her favorite foods, drove three hours, hiked a mile up to a mountain lake, spread out her things and swallowed fifty pills. According to everyone who knew her, Lauren was happy with her life and was making plans for her future. So why did she do it? 

That's the mystery that part-time private investigator Kristin Ashe is hired to answer. Lauren's sister is convinced she is murdered and she wants Kristin to prove it. Kris wants to help Patrice Elliott, Lauren's sister, but she has problems of her own. Her lover, lesbian activist Destiny Greaves, wants them to move in together and start a committed relationship, something Kris is not sure she's capable of doing. Kris comes from a severely dysfunctional family, at the center of which is her handicapped brother David. When David is found in a coma from multiple epileptic seizures, Kris is thrown into a family drama that she would just as soon avoid. It's no wonder that she is drawn deeper and deeper into the enigma that was Lauren Fairchild's life. Even after it becomes clear what actually happened, the looming question is why. As Kris and her hilarious friend Fran Green, an irrepressible lesbian ex-nun, uncover Lauren's motivation, Kris also begins to learn more about herself and how she interacts with her family and Destiny.

The mystery in Commitment to Die isn't really so much about why Lauren Fairchild died on that mountain. The mystery in the book is about what motivates people in their lives, why do they behave the way they do and how do their interactions influence that. The book is almost a psychological study of human relationships, but without being heavy. It is interesting to see the relationships develop between Kris and Destiny, Kris and her family and to see the special relationship Lauren had with her sister and her niece and why. 

This isn't a traditional mystery, but it is an interesting book in the other story that it tells.

Selective Memory by Jennifer L. Jordan

Publisher:               Spinsters Ink


In Selective Memory, another offering in the Kristin Ashe Mystery series, Kristin is hired to find a missing person by the person who is missing. Alexandra Madigen was involved in a serious car accident and suffered brain trauma, including a prolonged coma. Her memory is coming back in disjointed flashes and she needs help in putting them back together properly. Alexandra wants to know who she was before the accident because she doesn't trust what she's being told by the people around her. The reason she doesn't trust them is that she remembers more than she is telling Kristin and she wants to see whose version will be confirmed. 

Kristin uncovers details she's not sure she should share with a woman who is so seriously ill, including a twenty year obsession with another woman, so she finds herself caught in an ethical bind as to what to do. Meanwhile, Kristin's associate, the irrepressible Fran Green, has decided they should expand their business by going into "decoy" work. They can be hired by people's spouses or partners to "tempt" them as a test of their fidelity. Kristin isn't comfortable with this at all, especially when she learns that she is going to be the first "decoy" for a lesbian couple. This presents her with an ethical dilemma of an entirely different sort. Both of these cases will have Kristin wondering at times if she needs to rethink her choice of profession. 

Once again Jennifer Jordan delivers an alternative mystery. The puzzle here is not to solve a crime but to understand relationships. The central story is the relationships that revolve around Alexandra Madigen, which at first appear to be rather cold, even unpleasant, except for the incongruous obsession with the other woman. When that takes an unexpected twist near the end of the novel, the reader is forced to go back and reevaluate everything. 

The decoy business calls up the question of what happens in a relationship when one partner doesn’t trust another one and things have broken down so far that, instead of talking about the problem, you hire someone to deliberately tempt the person to cheat. What if the partner really hadn't cheated before, but does now because the bait was put out there? Then who is the real guilty party? 

Finally, there is the evolving relationship between Kristin and Fran. Those who have read the earlier books in the series know that Fran Green started out almost as a comic relief in the stories. While she can still be funny, in this book she begins her own public access television show, and a more puzzling side is also beginning to emerge in the character. At times Fran appears to be the voice telling Kristin to take a risk, move further out to the edge, then she's telling her not to go somewhere. It's as if Fran is playing both roles of angel and devil sitting on Kristin's shoulders. The reader might wonder how much of this tug of war the friendship can endure.

Selective Memory is an easy read that will also cause you to think.