But Jann and the plane aren’t missing for long, and both the wreckage and her dead body are soon discovered in the Rockies. Shocked and horrified, things get considerably worse when the mechanic on site confirms Grace’s worst fears - the plane was sabotaged. Grace is immediately on edge. Were she and Albert the intended victims? Had Jann’s hasty departure been the only thing to save them from sure death? And if she and Albert weren’t the targets, who would possibly want to kill Jann and why?

I had a hard time sinking my teeth into this first installment in Lewin’s Grace Beckmann series. For the first few chapters I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that something was missing. By the close of the last chapter, I had solved my dilemma. As a reader, I never felt connected to Grace. She’s a nice enough character, and has admirable amateur sleuthing abilities, but it was the little things that kept me at arms length.

First, I was never quite sure where this story was taking place. I immediately assumed Denver, but then realized that this was just an assumption. The author never comes out and tells the reader. There’s also the slight problem that I was never sure what the heck Grace even looked like. There are a few hints dropped, but by no means a tangible picture ever formed in my mind.

Minor quibbles to be sure, but I also had a big problem concerning the police presence in this mystery. My big pet peeve in mysteries involving amateur sleuths is when the police seem content to have an amateur stick their nose in official police business. Grace makes no secret of her snooping, and is subsequently threatened by thugs. When the police learn of these threats they warn her to be more careful, and that’s it. No reading her the riot act about interfering, no threat of arrest, nothing. But it’s when the police let Grace and Albert sit in on an interrogation that I found myself groaning audibly.

What makes Murder Flies Left Seat stand out from the crowded ranks of amateur sleuth mysteries is the unique premise and setting. Try as hard as I might, I couldn’t think of another mystery series where flying small aircraft plays in important role in the characters lives. It is to Lewin’s credit that she can choose such a technical hobby, and write it in such a way as to not confuse an ignorant reader like myself.

Not only does Lewin write the flying scenes well, I found myself enjoying her style throughout the whole book. This mystery is told squarely from Grace’s point of view, like a person recounting events over a cup of coffee with a close friend.

While I never felt totally connected to Grace, and the ready police acceptance of her sleuthing grated me the wrong way, I did find plenty to enjoy in this debut series. The uniqueness of the setting and Lewin’s writing style should please readers looking for something different among the current crop of amateur sleuths.

--Wendy Crutcher