The Secret of the Red Cane - The BOOB Girls V

The Secret of the Red Cane
The BOOB Girls V
The Burned Out Old Broads at Table 12
Joy Johnson
Grief Illustrated Press
Omaha, Nebraska
ISBN: 1-56123-243-7
Trade Paperback
2013
232 pages
$ 14.95

Those of us who have grown-up in the past eighty years remember Nancy Drew as one of the first fictional and female heroines who was a role model with STDs: strength, tenderness, determination and smarts.   

What does someone who has been solving mysteries for eighty years do when she physically can't quite hang on the edge of a roof, but mentally still possesses the smarts along with years of experience and education?    Being this is a fictional world, she becomes a BOOB Girl,  one of The Burned-Out Old Broads who reside at Table 12 of the Meadow Lake Retirement Community in Omaha, Nebraska.

The current members of the BOOB are Hadley Joy Morris-Whitfield, Robinson Leary, Marge Aaron, and Mary Rose McGill.   Three of the four bonded five books ago with an unusual friendship combining their STDs into adventure and like Nancy Drew, solving mysteries for the good of everyone.

As change is a part of life, their home at the Meadow Lake Retirement Community has been bought by the Busch family, without the knowledge of the residents.   Like most takeovers, changes are occurring with the new ownership.  While these changes do not appear to be beneficial to the residents, the foursome wonder about the real vision of the family.  What is their reason for buying this facility?

A retirement community always has its own challenges but an elderly couple happens to create an unusual twist.   Mr. and Mrs. Hosemoffs have been married for years and are the perfect example of soulmates.  They cannot image life without each other.  So realizing that one of them will probably pass away in the near future, they want to die together.  How?   Could they find someone just to murder them?

The Secret of the Red Cane, Book Five of the BOOB Girls is a delightful romp into the misadventures of this retired quartet.   The story is well-developed, evenly paced, with realistic characters and even large print for easy reading.  

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this well-written, Nancy Drew-like story.  Although this novel is easy to understand without having read the previous four, I would highly recommend to at least read the first book to better understand their relationships.

Joy Johnson, along with her husband, Dr. Marvin Johnson are the founders of Ted E. Bear Hollow and the Centering Corporation which is North America's largest and oldest bereavement resource center.  Besides spending time with her family, writing and continuing work with the bereaved  she also enjoys life with her Bernese Mountain dog.

The Secret of the Red Cane is reminiscent of the Nancy Drew novels and just fun reading.   

What can possibly happen in the BOOB Girls, Book VI next installment?