M. Ruth Myers

Heebs Kelly has settled into his new home in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The lessons he learned about being a private investigator from Maggie Sullivan in Dayton have served him well. One of his most useful tools is his small dog Chaucer who is excellent at relaxing people that he needs to interview.
One August Day in 1955, five beautiful women crowded into his small office. Iris, Pauline, twins Autumn and Amanda and Wendy were concerned about their mother, Eleanor. The sisters have different personalities, abilities, and interests. Sometimes they blend well, other times there’s friction.
They all worked at the Sinclair School of Modeling and Personal Development which Eleanor had founded. She had received some threatening notes which she had destroyed, but the sisters had found one and wanted Heebs to intervene. He agreed to check into the case and they gave him a deposit for his services. After they left, he found an envelope with four $50 bills and a note telling him to drop the assignment.
Recently Linda, the office supervisor and a cousin, had fallen from a ladder under strange circumstances and now was wearing a cast. Was she the intended victim?
NIris the eldest was the Eleanor’s assistant. The others taught classes and had other responsibilities at times. Eleanor was more devoted to her business than she was to her daughters. However, she controlled them, refusing to let them follow their own interests.
Heebs agreed to meet Eleanor the following morning. When he got to the building, the police were outside. Eleanor’s body had been found in her office that morning. The police determined she had died from an overdose of legal but possibly deadly pills and called it suicide. Heebs noticed that she had spilled milk on her clothing. Her daughters said she hated milk and never drank it.
As Heebs did his investigation, he discovered a few clues hidden in Eleanor‘s office including a missing photograph that should have been on her desk.
Soon thereafter, the high school student died from an overdose of pills similar to those found in Eleanor’s body. Was there a connection? There was a school friend who saw someone who is possibly the murderer. She described the person after her mother said that she was a good artist, was not asked to make a drawing.
In AS PRETTY DOES, M. Ruth Myers again proves that she knows how to create interesting and unique characters as well as develop a plot. She does it without resorting to violence or sex scenes. There are many motives for several people who might have wanted to kill Eleanor. Trying to determine the real villain before the ending is a challenge but well worth the time and effort.… (mere)

Since being discharged from the Army during WWII, Heebs Kelly has been working with his long-time mentor, Private Investigator Maggie Sullivan, in Dayton, Ohio. A PENNY EARNED takes place in the 1950s during the Eisenhower administration.
During his active duty, he lost a hand and gained one close friend, Paul Richardson who now is a lawyer in Wyoming. After Paul contacts Heebs to tell him he can use his help about something he has learned, Heebs drives to Wyoming to help out.
When he arrives, Paul’s very pregnant wife tells him he’s not home from work yet and he hasn’t answered her phone calls. Heebs goes to Paul’s office where a woman doctor whose office is in the building shows him the office. Heebs goes in and finds that his friend is dead, killed by someone by breaking his neck.
The police immediately decide that Heebs is the killer and are determined to close the case. Only after Heebs can prove he is not the guilty is he released. But Paul’s father-in-law tells him he doesn’t think the police will work very hard and asks Heebs to find the killer.
Heebs first task is determining what information Paul was investigating so he knows where to look. When he goes back to the office, he finds someone else there and is attacked by two men outside. He realizes that something very important but also questionable must be at stake.
In this first book in a series involving a person introduced in the Maggie Sullivan series. M. Ruth Myers delivers a realistic character, sounding like someone with Heebs’ background. The plot is plausible as are the people and situations. Myers does not rely on descriptive violence nor sex to move the story along.
Like all the books in the previous series, A PENNY EARNED is well-written interesting. I look forward to more books about Heebs as well as more about Maggie.… (mere)