Book Review: Riddles and Riches
Riddles and Riches by Kyle Owens
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is book two in the Vegas Chantly Mystery series. I didn’t deliberately skip the first book, but my love of puzzle solving pulled me directly into this one first. The blurb tempted me with “She must follow the clues in the famous “Riddles and Riches” game and see if there really is a treasure, or present evidence that it was all an elaborate prank.”
If Mel Brooks directed a movie mashup of National Treasure, Thelma and Louise, and National Lampoon’s Vacation, the end result might have been almost as funny as the road trip adventure Vegas and her completely addlepated mother Eleanor take in a problematic VW bug, searching for clues that should, if all goes well, lead to a treasure.
Suffice it to say that all does not even come close to going well, but that’s the real treasure for the reader. Longsuffering Vegas spends most of her time trying to deal with her mother’s antics. Eleanor is completely over the top crazycakes, but you can’t help liking her as she’s filled with good intentions and motherly love for Vegas.
Does our intrepid duo find the clues and ultimately, the treasure? Has Vegas’s client been honest with her? Why does Eleanor’s handbag contain a kitten? Why would she name the kitten Pepsi? Will the VW bug hold together long enough to finish the hunt? Why is Eleanor strapped into the passenger seat upside down? All these questions, and plenty more you never thought to ask will be answered. Hop in (if you can get the car door open) and tag along for a bumpy, silly, oddly satisfying ride.
Lori Alden Holuta
Lori Alden Holuta lives between the cornfields of Mid-Michigan, where she grows vegetables and herbs when she’s not writing, editing, or playing games with a cat named Chives.
