Book Review: The Blind Devotion of Imogene by David Putnam

 

From the publisher: 

In 1973, Imogene Taylor is seventy-five years old, on parole for murder, and works at a store that sells dented canned goods. Twelve years earlier, she went to prison for killing her love-of-her-life-husband, Wayne. She called it an accident. The judge and jury called it murder. Imogene’s parole agent is constantly on her case, looking to send her back to prison.

During her time in prison, Imogene had to vent her angst at someone and sent the sitting Presidents (during the ten years in prison) threatening letters bringing her to the attention of the Secret Service. She does extensive research and writes a novel, Peekaboo POTUS, about the assassination of a US President. She sends the book "over the transom" to one publisher. The publisher, after being unable to contact Imogene, comes looking for her.

The Cigar, an organized crime gangster, walks into Dentco, where Imogene works, and extorts the store for protection money. Pay up or get firebombed. The entire strip center is under this threat.

At the same time, Imogene’s neighbor dies of natural causes and leaves a hoarder’s mess to his daughter, Suzanne. Imogene helps Suz clear out a pyramid of boxes filled with junk in the garage. At the bottom of the pile, they find a box with a dead woman who has been hidden for many years.

Imogene must dodge an overzealous parole agent while dealing with a dead woman in the neighbor’s garage. She’s on parole for murder, so she can’t report it to the police. No one would believe her. Imogene and Suz think the woman in the box is Suz’s long-estranged mother. Rather than reveal Suz’s father as the probable killer, Imogene convinces Suz to bury her mom under the avocado tree in the backyard. Until Thelma, Suz’s mother, appears after reading the obituary.

It's a race to uncover the real killer as Imogene dodges gangsters, family members, and a publisher on her quest to find the truth.

My thoughts:

Imogene has a lot on her plate. Manager at Dentco, in love with Bernie, friend to neighbor Suz are just a few of the roles she plays. Add on to that that a thug calling himself The Cigar is extorting her for protection money for the store which she does not own. And Eugene, a friendly Secret Service agent, is looking to take her to lunch on the government's dime to help keep the president safe. Oh, and Nancy Do-right, her parole officer is seeking any excuse to throw her back into prison.

I really enjoyed this book. Imogene and Suz were my favorite characters. Imogene is well characterized as a 75 yr old ex-con who likes to drink Schlitz after work and enjoys a good Marlboro cigarette. She proves again and again that she is smart and savvy in the ways of dealing with other people. Although she does make some mistakes. The supporting characters were interesting too. A quirky cast all around.

When Suz's father dies and leaves behind a hoarder's mess in the garage, Suz asks Imogene to help her clear it out. Finding a dead body in the mess was totally unexpected and triggers further problems. Who is the lady in the box? Suz's mother? Or a neighbor? Imogene and Suz must find out before they are next on the agenda to be murdered.

The book moves along at a good pace. Once I got into it, I found myself reading quickly. I really wanted to know what was going to happen to Imogene. I felt the ending was satisfying too although there is a flurry of activity there at the end.

Overall, I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. It's well written. The characters are interesting. And it moves along at a good pace. The final twist is a good one too. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy a good mystery with quirky characters. This is the first in a planned trilogy. I am looking forward to book two.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my review.

The Blind Devotion of Imogene by David Putnam is expected out July 9, 2024 from Level Best Books.