It seems acceptable for Jo Dereske, a former librarian herself, to create a heroine who is an overstated version of a stereotypical librarian, although some librarians may find this irksome or insulting. Helma's compulsion for order, preparation for every event, and avoidance of change might be abnormal, but she is ethical, sincere, and good-natured. While the book may be unrealistic, its strength is in pairing Helma and the other exaggerated characters together to create a light parody of real-life.

After years of inviting her Great Aunt Em to visit, Helma is finally preparing to receive her, when disaster strikes. Her brother calls to tell her no one knows exactly what happened, but a passer-by found Aunt Em wandering outside of her house, wearing an apron and waving a wooden spoon. The doctor diagnoses some kind of "brain incident." and is not optimistic about a complete recovery. After all, the doctor points out, she is an 87-year-old lady. Helma finds her brother's suggestion to move her aunt to a group home unacceptable and wants her to recover in Bellehaven, Washington, with her.

From the moment Aunt Em arrives at the airport, strange things begin to happen. The flight attendants hand Aunt Em over to Helma voicing disapproval of her disorderly behavior after drinking too much, which is out of character for her. At the luggage carousel her aunt notices someone walking off with her suitcase, so Helma and her friend Ruth run to retrieve it, leaving Aunt Em alone.

When they return, Aunt Em is missing and they discover her quite distraught and standing outside of a Personnel Only restroom. She is confused and tells them a man tried to snatch her purse so she stabbed him with her hatpin and he ran away. Her story seems implausible to Helma, so she hurries her home without reporting the incident.

Later the same evening, Helma hears two men arguing loudly outside of her apartment, followed by a huge crash. She and Ruth discover a dead man in the parking lot. After the police arrive, Aunt Em surprises everyone by identifying the murder victim as the thief at the airport and draws their attention to the three marks on the victim's arm where she stabbed him with her hatpin. Helma feels extremely guilty for not believing her aunt; yet it is increasingly apparent her aunt only remembers some things and imagines others.

The Chief of Police, Wayne Gallant, who is a special friend of Helma's, informs her the murder victim shared the same plane as Aunt Em and also lived in Michigan, sometimes working as a quasi-detective. There are too many coincidences for Helma, so she decides to delve into both Aunt Em's recent and long ago past, uncovering some unusual surprises.

The farfetched and eccentric characters in the book are so extreme they occasionally blur into caricatures from a cartoon, rather than being actual people.

Although it is distracting to find all these individuals together in one place, they do contribute to the overall entertainment value. Final Notice is worth checking out; it is enjoyable and light-hearted with a particularly curious and anecdotal plot.

--Monica Pope