Following Susan Cox’s Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel award-winning debut, The Man in the Microwave Oven is her next delightfully quirky mystery featuring San Francisco transplant Theo Bogart. Fleeing from a murder and family tragedy in her native England, where she was the scandal du jour for the tabloid press, Theo Bogart changed her name and built an undercover … and built an undercover life in a close-knit San Francisco neighborhood. She didn’t expect to find love and friendship there, and now she doesn’t know how–or if–to reveal the truth.
After a confrontation with a difficult neighbor, Theo fears her secrets are about to be uncovered after all. When the woman who threatened to expose her is murdered, Theo is embroiled in the kind of jeopardy she crossed an ocean to escape. Worse yet, dangerous family secrets have followed her. Theo’s grandfather unveils a glimpse of the shadowy world he once inhabited as an agent for the British Secret Service, bringing an even bigger breed of trouble–and another death–to Theo’s doorstep. She finds herself fighting to protect herself, her family, and her new friends, aware that one of them might be a murderer.
Susan Cox has once again painted a delightfully quirky portrait of a colorful San Francisco neighborhood and a woman finding her way through exactly the kind of scandalous mystery she was trying to leave behind.
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“The Man in the Microwave Oven” is eccentric, funny, and original. This book two in the “Theo Bogart Mystery” series, but Cox carefully folds previous characters and relationships into the current storyline so first-time readers can easily follow along. Theophania Bogart has escaped drama and trauma in England, has relocated to San Francisco, and readers are glad of it. The atmosphere and personality of the city comes through on every page. Theo gets coffee from a place where the letter “o” is fashioned into a coffee bean and a one-car garage in the Mission District sells for $300,000. If the day were sunny, she could see a panoramic view of the wide sands of Ocean Beach, but mostly she sees the completely opaque curtain of fog.
The drama unfolds in Theo’s first person narrative. Readers hear what she says, what others say, and what she thinks about it all. She is a fierce, following in the grand tradition of fierce women in underwear: Wonder Woman, Brandi Chastain. When her friend Nat finds something “shocking” in a microwave oven, Theo is the person to dive in and look for answers, although having the microwave seized by police can be seen as positive by people who want to avoid GMOs, high tension power lines, and cell phone radiation. Another body is found, and things get more serious after that – not!
“The Man in the Microwave Oven” has mystery, but not at the expense of fun and entertainment. Clues are hidden in the trash among the McDonald’s wrappers and coffee cups. The characters are compelling with a sense of humor. I received a copy of “The man in the microwave Oven” from Susan Cox and Minotaur Books. It has enough crime, suspense, and mystery to be compelling but an abundance of hilarity and amusement to balance it out.
Somehow I missed the debut mystery by Susan Cox, The Man on the Washing Machine and almost missed this one. It didn’t take me long to remedy that. First, I had no trouble reading them out of order. Enough information was supplied about Theo’s situation to let me enjoy The Man in the Microwave Oven. Theo has a major life secret and it’s getting harder and harder to keep it secret. She has changed her name, bought an apartment building using a shell company and has opened Aromas where she sells essential oils, soaps and related bath items. Part of her secret is that she is wealthy and famous back home in England but tragedy struck her family and caused her to run to San Fransisco and a new life. That life should be good but there is one serious fly in the ointment. Real estate is very, very expensive and a most unpleasant neighborhood lawyer is trying to do a deal to build condos, threatening the local vibe. The woman knows how to find info on people so she can use it against them. She has a file on Theo and some of her friends. Was any of that the reason the woman is found dead in her Tesla at 5am not far from Theo’s shop? Did one of Theo’s neighbors bash her head in? When her employee, Davie and her grandfather are arrested for murder, Theo has to find the killer. There are more than a few things about her past and that of her grandfather that the police inspector doesn’t know and Theo would like to keep it that way.
The first thing that hooked me was the pace of the writing and Theo’s voice. It’s smooth and kept me totally immersed in the story. The vivid setting of San Fransisco was a big plus. The mystery itself was very well crafted and had me guessing wrong more than once. I hope there will be future mysteries for Theo to solve and more information about her past. I’m holding a spot on my TBR list for them.
My thanks to the publisher, Minotaur Books and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
In this sequel to The Man in the Washing Machine, our heroine, Theo, is once again a lot of fun and her small neighborhood community of lovable and less lovable characters in San Francisco is once again my favorite aspect of the book. Her grandfather and his friends play an interesting role in this one, too. This was a very fast and enjoyable read, and it was fun to hang out with people who aren’t having to take precautions and social distance in a pandemic. I look forward to future books in the series.
spies, murder, family-dynamics, friendship, satire, San Francisco
I’m thinking that this is also a kind of satire on spy novels as well as being a pretty good murder mystery. Theo is a Britisher who ran to the far side of the US because of majorly bad press, but the reader doesn’t get to know what the issues were until a third of the way into the book. When she fled, her wealthy grandfather promptly followed to be there for her as well as provide further financial backup. Theo owns and operates a fragrance business and has an assortment of friends in the neighborhood and one bete noire common to all the neighbors, a nasty blackmailer of a lawyer. Of course Theo is the one to find the lawyer murdered in her Tesla, and not long enough later she finds fingers in the microwave of her friend’s coffeeshop and the rest of the body in another area of the neighborhood. But then things get crazy. Even crazier than the characters. A very interesting read!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you!