The Accidental Sleuth, an Emma Winberry Mystery

by Helen Macie Osterman

Book Overview

Emma Winberry is a senior sleuth with a sixth sense who talks to her Guardian Angel. This is the second book in the series. In this story she becomes involved with an anorexic teenager and her abusive uncle, two thugs who think she is someone else, and a group of homeless people. She believes thieves are looking for something that may be tied to a murdered inventor found in an alley. Can she figure out the puzzle before someone else is killed?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1499297491
• ISBN13: 9781499297492
• Release Date: June 2014
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 276 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Emma Winberry is a WINNER!

The character Emma Winberry is such a genuine, warm character, that one is immediately drawn into her life. Although at first she appears to be like anyones sweet grandmother might be, the reader soon realizes Emma is much more than the average 60 year old. For one thing she has moved out of her house in the burgs and into the Windy City. Her new home is a posh condo with her significant other...not a move done by the average grandmother. But then, Nate Sandler, her significant other is no average older man either. The two lead very interesting lives. Although she may not be the average grandmother Emma still has the grandmotherly insticts which lead her to try to help the young girl living next door. Her muffins and tender care, eventually lure the anorexic girl to not only eat, but confind in her which leads Emma on an adventure that I doubt she ever imagined. Her guardian angel and Nate help save Emma as Emma saves the day. She saves the young girl, solves a murder and in between almost gets herself killed. A fun and exciting read. Well written by an author who certainly knows her locale. A beautiful portrait of Chicago where one never knows what might arise.

A delightful sometimes humorous cozy

Sixty year old Emma Winberry has been living in her town condominium for the last four months after selling her home and she has never been happier. Nate Sandler adores Emma even if he isn't quite sure he believes in her sixth sense and her Guardian Angel. When new neighbors move in next door, she meets Laura Evans a frightened woman and teenage anorexic looking Teresa who is devoted to her aunt. The husband is rarely seen but Emma gets the impression he is a brute who abuses the women in his life. She fears that something that will happen to Teresa and it does. Something horrific happens to Emma when she is mistakenly snatched by two thugs who leave her tied up in an old apartment house to die. She breaks free of her bonds with the help of her Gardian Angel and a homeless man who is living in the abandoned building saves her. Jake persuades Minnie to come forward to give back what she took from a man that was killed. While helping Minnie and Jake, the homeless man who found and helped her get medical attention after she escaped from the kidnappers, she finds herself in danger from hoodlums seeking her neighbors; Emma vows to keep them safe even if it means carrying a gun. Emma is strong, independent and willing to help others. This makes her the perfect role model for women to emulate. Although there is no blood and gore and the murder happens before the book begins, this is a delightful sometimes humorous cozy. The secondary characters of Minnie and Jake, two homeless but not helpless people are as important as the heroine because they enhance the plot with depth especially enabling the audience to better understand what motivates Emma. Harriet Klausner