The sisters live in the same place where they grew up, the trendy town of Hill Creek outside of San Francisco. Hannah spends her time gardening and amateur sleuthing, while Kiki concentrates on her social life. Kiki’s most recent activity is chasing after the town’s most recent eligible bachelor, Dr. Ron Gilman, who is dating Lillian, Kiki’s high school nemesis, creating a situation fraught with tension. All of them are getting together for the yearly meeting of the Hill Creek High School Botany Club of 1955 with their botany teacher, Geraldine. Hannah and Geraldine have become good friends over the years, so when Hannah notices that Geraldine is very concerned and worried about something, she offers to help.

Unfortunately, Geraldine becomes ill and is hospitalized before she can discuss the problem with Hannah, but she asks her to go to her home and collect an envelope and bring it to her. Hannah and Kiki decide to take it to her at the hospital the evening before her surgery is scheduled to ease her mind. When they arrive, they not only discover Geraldine dead, but they also find a dead man on the floor dressed as an orderly with a pair of scissors sticking out of his chest.

Hannah feels she needs to look into her friend’s murder on her own until she figures out why Geraldine had been so secretive. She withholds the contents of the mysterious envelope and begins her investigation. Then, she looks into the meaning of an old photograph of Geraldine from their forty-five year old high school yearbook that was found in the dead man’s pocket.

These likeable and unusual characters make a very favorable impact. Hannah is the calm in the storm with her logical thinking and steady, common sense. Kiki’s character presents the perfect comic relief with outrageous antics and bizarre dress. Her adolescent flirting tactics and social skills, although perhaps exaggerated, may not be so uncommon at her age, if we consider that the spirit can stay young forever.

The sisters’ friend and psychic neighbor, Naomi makes a return performance as a supporting character and remains charmingly eccentric. All in all, these ladies “of a certain age” are likable, less than perfect, with a refreshing, if not unusual outlook on life.

In conclusion, the unique characters are the book’s greatest strength and strongest entertainment value, but the fairly complex plotline takes some surprising twists, too. Add to this mix Hannah’s astute insights into humanity and offbeat sense of humor, and the book becomes a very worthwhile pursuit.

--Monica Pope