Naked Came the Phoenix by Marcia Talley (Goodreads Author) (Editor),

Nevada Barr, Nancy Pickard, J.A. Jance (Goodreads Author), Lisa Scottoline (Goodreads Author), Anne Perry, Mary O’Shaughnessy, Val McDermid,more…

Amy Caudill‘s review

From some of the modern queens of mystery, comes this entertaining tale of family lost and found, treachery, blackmail, and murder. Caroline and her mother Hilda are visiting the exclusive Phoenix spa, a place where the rich and famous come to hide while being alternately pampered and starved in the name of beauty and relaxation.

Caroline is determined to enjoy this break, despite her mother’s predilections for cruelty and control, when she encounters a dead body in the spa’s mud baths, the owner of the spa. This proves to be only the first of several as a number of guests, all with mysterious links to each other and the late owner, appear to be murdered by an unknown assailant, who must be hiding at the isolated resort.

The local police do their best, but the wealthy guests all have lawyers to impede the investigation. Hilda reveals that she has through covert means become the primary owner of the Phoenix, and also that the previous owner had blackmailed her over a child she gave up for adoption before Caroline’s birth.

The novel contains numerous red herrings as different contributors hint who could possibly be Caroline’s lost sibling. The story flows surprisingly well considering each chapter is written by a different author. Overall, the effect is of an engaging, sometimes shocking mystery, with a couple of twists this reader couldn’t have predicted.

I enjoyed this short novella very much, and recommend it to fans of the genre at large as well as any of the included authors. I award it four stars.