The Body in Griffith Park By Jennifer Kincheloe (Review by Lara Ferguson)

3/5*

Anna Blanc’s adventures continue in this engaging story set in the Los Angeles, California of the early 1900’s. As a result of her previous adventures, Anna finds herself disowned by her father and forced to support herself by working as a police matron.

This job places her tantalizingly close to not only the man that she loves, but also the sleuthing that she is drawn to. So what does she do when she finds a body? She sets off on adventure to unravel the mystery, creating havoc in her wake. This adventure takes her to unlikely places and introduces her to even more unlikely people.

Alternating between humor and mystery, the author Jennifer Kincheloe, crafts a twisting, turning tale full of surprises and inconsistencies. The reader has to laugh at the silliness of Anna’s love for hats and dresses, her worrying about how she looks and the man she loves, while appreciating her insistence on pushing up against societal expectations and following her intellect and instinct. She is determined to find the truth, no matter what.

Kincheloe’s characters are often fanciful, but interesting and amusing, many of them
caricatures of the stereotypes that we as readers believe. The Body in Griffith Park is a
fun read that makes for a great escape.