Revenge of the Crafty Corpse

Revenge of the Crafty Corpse
By: Lois Winston
288 Pages
Reviewed by: Betsey Brooks
 
The story centers around Anastasia Pollack, a craft editor for American Woman magazine. Her husband, "Dead Louse of a Spouse" as she calls him, had been cheating and sucking money out of their accounts for some time. This all came to life when he suddenly dies while on one of his "business" trips to Vegas.
Anastasia is now faced with a huge debt, supporting her two teenage sons, her mother-in-law and her mother(when she is between husbands).

The story opens with Anastasia getting an objecting Lurille settled at "Sunyside of Westfield Assisted Living and Rehabilitation Center". On her way out, Anastasia meets her old college roommate Kara who works at the center. Kara is about to go on maturnity leave and the center needs someone to cover her weekend art classes. She talks Anastasia into applying, emphasizing how well it will pay. The director, Shirley Hallstead is very happy to have someone as knowledgeable as Anastasia. The following morning Lurille's 98 year old roommate is found murdered and the police think Lurille did it.

Anastasia sets out to clear her mother-in-law. Some very strange things begin to emerge. First, the victim seems to be a very skilled artist. All her creations centered around- sex including a picture of Michelangelo's "David" made of lint. Second, she is hated by all the other residents, but seems to have had some control of them. Third, Lyndella Wagner had enjoyed a very active sex life right up to the day she died.

While looking through Lyndella's art notebooks Anastasia discovers hidden pieces of information written into the directions and accounts centering around her art work. Discovering what all these mean takes you back to meet Lyndella at fifteen. Traveling forward in through time you discover just how talented, clever, resourceful and prosperous Lyndella was. The path to solving Lynelle's murder is filled with surprises and twists, some very humorous. So settle back and enjoy a most unusual mystery. Revenge of the Crafty Corpse has a little bit of everything. romance, sex, murder, history and funny events.