Belle Ruin (Emma Graham series) by Martha Grimes

Belle Ruin
By Martha Grimes

This series really started for me back in 1992 with The End of the Pier. Emma Graham does not appear in that mystery but the location is the same and the style of the stories is very similar.  The main detective in that novel is Sam DeGuyn, the sheriff, who returns in the Emma Graham mysteries. 
 
The End of the Pier is a little more gruesome in descriptions of murders and murder scenes, something the author stays away from in subsequent books of the Emma Graham mysteries.  In fact, it is not at all necessary to read that novel in order to enjoy the Emma Graham series. 

The sheriff returns in Hotel Paradise, which was released in 1996 and features Emma Graham. Emma is intrigued by the story of Mary-Evelyn Devereau, a 12 year old who died on a pond 40 years ago, after her Aunt Rose ran away with Ben Queen. Was it murder or negligence? Rose herself was murdered some years ago now, supposedly by Ben Queen. Now Ben Queen is released from prison and their daughter, Fern, is found murdered. In between waiting tables at her family's once popular resort hotel, Emma asks questions and pokes around.

The mystery continues just a week later in Cold Flat Junction, (though the book wasn't released until 2001.) Then comes the story of Belle Ruin, released in 2005, with the added mystery of the kidnapped baby. 

The Belle Rouen was once a sumptuous resort hotel near Spirit Lake but since the fire it is now truly the "ruin" that most locals pronounce it to be.

Emma Graham has had more than her fair share of excitement in her life.  At just 12 years old she is made the youngest member of the local newspaper, The Conservative, so she will write up her account of what happened when she was shot at by a madwoman.  Now that she has discovered the ruin of the Belle Rouen, she seems to be on to a new mystery.  

Emma is deeply intrigued by the story of a kidnapped baby in the heyday of the Belle Rouen.  It is the night of a dance party and the parents hire a local woman to watch the baby in their hotel room while they go to the dance.  The father tells the babysitter to let the baby sleep, as she has been sick. When the father returns to check on the baby a couple hours later, the baby is gone.  A ladder next to the window of the bedroom suggests that someone used it to climb up and snatch the child.  However, as Emma questions the events, more and more, things don't add up.  She sets about interviewing all the people who might have been around during that time.  With each discussion, some small piece of the puzzle emerges.

The character of Emma Graham seems real to me, at times an independent young lady who is mature beyond her years and at other times reacts childishly to something that upsets her. 

Perhaps it's a mistake to look at this as a mystery rather than a literary novel.  The actions and observations are enjoyable in themselves even though there has been little resolution in the mysteries.  There are elements of magical realism as well, as elements of the time setting are totally distorted to make us wonder when it is taking place. 

Will the questions finally be answered in Fadeaway Girl, released in 2011, or will it remain a mystery, as things sometimes do in life?  Reviews by readers suggest that while many answers are given, just as many are left unanswered.  Perhaps this is deliberate.  The pace of the books is slow and deliberate, thought provoking, with shades of darkness relieved by lighter moments.

The only thing that really bothers me at this point about the series is the rehashing of material from the older books.  I can understand trying to keep the books readable as a stand alone but if we're going to defy mystery conventions, why not go the whole nine yards and just let people read the others if they want to know the back story?  For my part, I'm looking forward to reading Fadeaway Girl, whatever it brings.