The price is steep, but fair, given the excellent condition of the car, but there is something off going on at the Beadle farm and Kitty would just as soon buy the car and be done with them.  Before Kitty can take ownership of her blue beauty, the Beadle’s son Charlie is found dead in a highway ditch and Police Chief Wilburn thinks Jack is a good suspect, but overlooks things Kitty doesn’t consider coincidences:  Deb’s purse is snatched, the group’s hillside cabin is vandalized and Kitty’s digital camera is stolen. 

Charlie’s grandmother Sassy recognizes Kitty as a sympathetic person and Kitty knows Sassy is trying to tell her something; she just hopes she can figure it out before more deaths occur and before Jack finds himself in a Tennessee jail.  

Well-written, interesting characters make Fifty-Seven Traveling a fast enjoyable read.  Medina is particularly well-written as it is easy to tell she is hiding something, but hard to discern whether she is hiding something out of fear or out of suspicion of Kitty. The antique lore is an interesting background but is not so detailed as to overwhelm casual tire kickers and admirers. 

The mystery is well-plotted and well-paced, though there are a couple of coincidences that don’t fit the plotline. Such as that Deb’s purse is the one stolen and the key to the cabin she’s sharing with Kitty is at the Beadle farm, thus when the cabin is ransacked with little sign of forced entry, at first the police label it a bear invasion. 

Enough clues are provided so the out-of-staters, and readers, are able to piece together just what is going on at Beadle’s farm and who the victims really are.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry