The Cashmere Kid

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Vermont goat-herding may not sound like material for a gripping mystery, but in Comfort's ( Grave Consequences ) hands, it achieves that dimension. The fifth Tish McWhinny mystery finds the spry septuagenarian resident of southern Vermont looking on in horror as her adoptive niece Sophie begins plans to breed cashmere goats. Right after the expensive stud arrives, Sophie leaves for Texas and asks Tish to help watch the goats until her return. Soon, Tish finds Sophie's neighbor Stu Simpson bludgeoned to death with a golf club--and the prize stud gone. Despite repeated warnings from the local police lieutenant, Tish questions local farmers about the location of the missing stud, until she too is in danger. Eschewing excessive detail about goats and their breeding, Comfort portrays a delightful and believable cast of characters, especially down-to-earth Tish and her crusty gentleman friend Hilary Oats. (May)

Ilene Cooper

Anyone who expects "The Cashmere Kid" to be a mystery about a rich teenager should be forewarned: these cashmere kids are goats. Tish McWhinny, a Vermont-style Miss Marple with an edge, is not happy when a young protege decides to raise kids and buys an expensive billy goat to stud. The goat gets stolen, and a neighbor gets murdered. Are the two events related? As she has in four previous mysteries, Tish decides to find out what's what. The charm here is not really the mystery. It's hard to care about either the goat or the victim; they're just not very compelling characters. But Comfort does a good job with the New England ambience, and her senior-citizen detective has enough personality to keep the story moving. Larger mystery collections, especially ones with a regional slant, might want this one.