Thus begins Linda Kozar’s debut novel, “Misfortune Cookies,” subtitled “An Until the Fat Ladies Sing Mystery.” Yes, best friends Lovita and Sue Jan are overweight, and they are pursuing their favorite in-fat-uation in one of the two Chinese restaurants in their small home town when Lovita opens the shocking fortune cookie. All parties at the restaurant deny knowledge of the mysterious cookie.
The man in the Stetson turns out to be an aging Texas Ranger, Clint Greech, a friend of Lovita’s deceased father. After receiving a similar fortune cookie through the mail, he shows up outside “Lovita’s Cut ‘n Strut,” the combination boutique and beauty shop that the two friends operate. From there the investigation of a convoluted crime network begins.
The situation is complicated both by love interests and the lack of them. Sue Jan has a terrible crush on Hans, the German-Chinese cook at the Chinese restaurant, while she ignores the long-suffering lawyer, Monroe, who has been in love with her for years. Lovita has long since given up on love–until a lawyer friend of Monroe shows up.
Suspicions about the murder and other possible crimes seem to lie everywhere. A reclusive group of strangers shows up in town, claiming to be geologists, avoiding conversation with the locals whenever possible, and breaking off quickly when conversation is forced. Clint Greech disappears and reappears without warning. And the gradually-emerging family history of the Chinese restaurant proprietors creates more questions than answers.
Many plot threads run through the narrative–the argumentative but loving friendship of the two heroines, the seemingly impossible investigation of the years-old death of Lovita’s father, the heroines’ obsession with food and recipes, Sue Jan’s resistance to evangelizing by a local church, and various love interests both futile and rewarding. All culminate in a complex tangle of intrigue one would hardly expect to find in a small town.
Linda Kozar skillfully weaves all of these threads together into an amusing and suspenseful narrative guaranteed to entertain and satisfy. Gourmet readers will also enjoy the recipes provided at the end of the book.
