The Lady with the Alligator Case
[d-w13361]

5 of 5 Stars Anita Klumpers has a knack for drawing a reader into her story. So when Jemma wakes up in a hospital bed, handcuffed to the bedrail, I could not stop reading. Jemma’s car went into a ditch during a snowstorm, but in her car was a suitcase covered with alligator skin in which there were rare illegal orchids. Her grandmother asked her to drop them off to a buyer in northern Wisconsin since Jemma was on her way to reconcile with her former boyfriend in that area. Instead, Jemma is stuck in Cadwallader with a non-working vehicle, no money, no ID, not even shoes. However, the police chief of the small town, Elihu, buys her shoes. In fact, Elihu buys a meal for her, too. Jemma’s grandmother comes to her aid as well as a family friend who originally had that alligator case in his attic. Someone tries to take the case away from the family friend by force. As the story moves along, it turns out that not everyone is entirely truthful. This is an engaging mystery with interesting characters and lots of snow. Well worth reading in my opinion on a snowy day this Christmas.