As this next installment begins, Ellie and her husband Ben are preparing to leave for France for a romantic twosome while Ben’s parents baby-sit their children. Unfortunately, on the morning before they leave, Ellie encounters an odd, thickset woman with unkempt hair who motions to her from her seat on a park bench, claiming to be a gypsy and wanting to tell her fortune. After crossing her palm with an exorbitant 10£s, Ellie’s peace of mind is shattered because the gypsy advises her not go on this trip because the fates are against it. Then she adds a melodramatic sense of doom when she hands Ellie a button that she has just pulled off her shabby coat as a good luck charm!

Arriving at home, Ellie’s life becomes more complicated when Ben greets her with the news that her long lost father, Morley, has arrived for what appears to be an extended visit. He is not only acting very peculiar, but he is also looking much larger than they remember. Morley explains that he is very depressed and has returned for a brief visit to the bosom of his family, and accompanying him is Harriet, the love of his life. Ellie had thought his constant travels were to ease his broken heart after her mother’s death, so she is understandably resentful of the mysterious Harriet. However, she finds some comfort when daddy introduces her to a clay urn filled with the mysterious Harriet’s ashes.

Coincidences abound, beginning with the odd encounter Ellie had with the gypsy and her uncanny knowledge of her family, and continues when she discovers that another gypsy foretold how Harriet would die. Then there are Harriet’s three, odd cousins, who are exceedingly anxious to claim the urn with her ashes and are unduly disturbed when the urn and Ellie’s car disappear with the eccentric village vicar. All the clues seems to point to her father, and Ellie needs to quickly discover what kind of trouble he is involved in before someone gets hurt.

Like Ms. Cannell’s previous Ellie Haskell mysteries, Ellie’s unique personality and comic view of life drive the book, and her deadpan humor is academy award winning. Although Ellie’s children are staying with her mother-in-law, there are references to them, and Ben, chef extraordinaire, manages to make our mouths water with his delicious cooking. There is the delightful return of her incorrigible cousin Freddy, who offers his usual witticisms and inner knowledge of our heroine. He is the lead actor in the local Chitterton Fells stage production of Murder Most Fowl, and various other villagers play minor roles and are all delightfully eccentric and offer amusing insights throughout the book.

Although Trouble with Harriet is one of many mysteries in a series, it can certainly be read on its own. It is not a serious, realistic whodunit that requires deep and intricate problem solving skills, yet it has excellent entertainment value. Ellie’s unique vision of the world is refreshing, and the somewhat far-fetched storyline is chock-full of unpredictable situations to take pleasure in - all in all a pleasant break from the day’s usual realities.

--Monica Pope