Tower District Mystery Series: Book 1
Publication Date: August 1, 2021
At 35, children’s book author Roxi Carlucci finds herself starting over again after her publisher drops her book series. With no income, she has to pack up her life on the California Coast, along with her pet rat Merlin, and move in with her cousin, P.I. Stephen Carlucci, who lives in Fresno, CA. The one redeeming factor is that Stephen lives in the Tower District—the cultural oasis of Fresno.
Stephen talks Roxi into helping out with a community theatre production, which is also a
fundraiser for a local animal rescue. Then someone is murdered during a rehearsal in the locked theatre, and now she and Stephen are hired to find the killer. Can they stop the killer before they strike again? The killer has to be one of Roxi’s new acquaintances since the theatre was locked at the time of the murder, but no one seems to have a motive. How can they solve a murder without a motive? Could the local gossip website hold any clues?
One of Us by Lorie Lewis Ham is the first book in A Tower District Mystery series, and I look forward to returning to Fresno many more times. This mystery has a lot of depth with likable characters with a lot in common. A pet rat gave me pause while everyone else seemed to take it in stride.
Roxi moves to Fresno from the coast when her cousin Stephen offers her a place to stay and a job as a PI in his business while she regroups after the life she knows gets derailed. There are a lot of movie, play, and book references, as well as movie actors and their roles mentioned. There is a community theater production that Roxi gets involved with behind the scenes, as well as a murder that her cousin’s firm is hired to solve.
Roxi and Stephen work closely with the police to try and solve the murder and whodunnit while figuring out some other anomalies. There are a lot of clues and initially many suspects, but Roxi and Stephen’s methodical and meticulous approach to this case held my interest throughout.
There are twists and turns as suspects are ruled out and then sometimes added back to the list, only to be ruled out again. Multiple stories are relayed and woven together, and we learn a lot about Fresno—the heat, the many small businesses, how the characters fit in, as well as some of its quirks.
Secrets are uncovered, family and friend relationships are examined, and food plays a central role. There is closure in solving the murder, and a cold case getting solved. The whodunnit wasn’t unexpected since there were hints with the clues. The epilogue was not what I had expected, but it gave hints of new friendships but ended abruptly.
I look forward to starting the next book, One of You, later tonight to see what everyone is up to next.
One of Us is a mystery with some quirks but also a lot of depth, with so many details being revealed. I kept turning the pages to find out whodunnit and to get to know the characters better.
Lorie Lewis Ham lives in Reedley, California and has been writing ever since she was a child. Her first song and poem were published when she was 13, and she has gone on to publish many articles, short stories, and poems throughout the years, as well as write for a local newspaper, and publish 7 mystery novels. For the past 14 years, Lorie has been the editor-in-chief and publisher of Kings River Life Magazine, and she produces Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast, where you can hear an excerpt of her book One of Us, the first in a new series called The Tower District Mysteries. Book 2, One of You, will be out in June of 2024.
