A Treasure to Die For.

A Treasure To Die For

Radine Trees Nehring

St Kitt Press

PO Box 8173, Wichita, KS 67208

ISBN: 1931206007 $16.00

Radine Trees Nehring is a prolific writer of books, magazine articles, and radio news. She is a native of Arkansas and writes extensively about its inhabitants in her novels.

Hot Springs Arkansas has had a checkered past. When Carrie McCrite, senior pro-bono detective and companion friend of retired police detective Henry King, decide to embark on a trip to an elder hostel in the city of sin, they quickly become mired in past and present ghosts. Carrie is a bible stomping woman with buried insecurities about her role as a woman who also notices things. Henry is completely in love with Carrie and is waiting for her to get past her bible quotations and on to the real part of life...living. But he's willing to take the entire package, and when Carrie disappears and a suspicious elder hostel participant is murdered, all Henry can think about is rescuing Carrie, even as the police are considering Carrie as a suspect:

"Henry had also realized, after some thought, that Carrie Culpeper McCrite would not have stabbed Everett Bogardus and run away. Oh, it was possible that, to save her own life, she had stabbed the man, not intending to kill him. But she wouldn't have run away, she'd have run for help."

Nehring puts together a very entertaining whodunit in A TREASURE TO DIE FOR. Carrie is an interesting mix between an old-fashioned woman, a woman who is finding herself, and a woman who is comfortable with her own religion. The bible quotes seem pertinent, although they do bring the action to a complete halt in parts as Carrie huddles in a corner whispering bible quotes at the height of the action. Nonetheless, A TREASURE TO DIE for is absorbing and well written.

Nehring also puts together a touching love story between Carrie and Henry, who appear in earlier novels. As they struggle towards each other and a second marriage, their mistakes and past pain haunt both of them. At times the dance gets comical and frustrating to the reader, but it is the stuff of life and rings true. The murder plot itself is basically an old-time gangster tale, and the characters have risen out of the ashes of the old Hot Springs. A good read.