THE TUMBLEWEED MURDERS is set in California's Central Valley. A testy farmer has summoned Claire Sharples, plant pathologist, to his ailing peach orchard. In the course of her inspection, Sharples discovers more than sick peaches. She inadvertently uncovers a mummified corpse buried in the river-bottom—and now hosting acres of peach trees.
From the now dry riverbed we travel back and froth in time, as Rothenberg/Cannon expertly use flashbacks to unravel the mystery. They spirit us back to a simple, but troubled time when the Great Depression made desperate individuals do unspeakable things in the face of adversity. As the past is exposed, so is conspiracy, romance and, as you might guess, more untimely deaths.
It takes special talent to use flashbacks and Rothenberg/Cannon do it with absolute finesse as clues from the distant past pop up in the present. Each time I though I knew where we were heading, the clues steered me to unexpected places. My only disappointment came in the form of a character.
On of the main characters is a transplant from Oklahoma, and Rothenberg/Cannon's stereotypical portrayal left me disenchanted. I felt the poor language skills and behavior of the "Okie" overdone and a clear stereotyping of a poor woman, born in Oklahoma.
THE TUMBLEWEED MURDERS is the last mystery in the Claire Sharples Botanical series. Rebecca Rothenberg began the story before she succumbed to an inoperable brain tumor in 1998. Her friend and colleague, Taffy Cannon, did a superb job maintaining Rothenberg's style and finesse when she accepted the challenge to complete Rothenberg's final installment in the Claire Sharples series.
--Cathy Stevens, I Love A Mystery
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