The Serpents Trail (Maxie and Stretch, Book 1)

by Sue Henry

Book Overview

Cozy crime fans of a certain age will live vicariously through Maxie and Stretch in what promises to be a long and popular run of adventure. Publishers Weekly. An involving tale of old secrets, new... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451411781
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: Berkley
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.8" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Sue Henry books are excellent.

Delivery was fast, condition of book excellent. I haven't yet read it, but I've loved every other one of the several Sue Henry books I've read - interesting characters, good mystery, with very interesting historical facts about the areas of Alaska involved, great details about mushing sled dogs, Iditarod info, gold rush info (although the stories are modern day), Alaska State Troopers, Canadian Mounties. Great reads.

Introducing a motorhoming sleuth

The Serpents Trail is the first in a new mystery series by Alaska author Sue Henry, starring retiree and avid RVer Maxie McNabb - an independent widow whose adventures in her Minnie Winnie motorhome are destined for murderous twists and turns. Maxie and her mini-dachshund, Stretch, were introduced in Dead North (2002), the 8th book in Henry's established 10-book series starring Alaskan musher Jessie Arnold. In this first book of her own spinoff series, 63-year-old Maxie is cruising down the Alaska Highway in a brand-new Winnebago. She's always been a gypsy at heart - and with her dog at her side in their cozy home on wheels and the open road ahead, she's never been happier. Maxie's traveling from her home base in Homer, Alaska, to visit her onetime college roommate who is terminally ill in Grand Junction, Colorado. But she finds the house ransacked and Sarah delirious and near death in the hospital. Sarah insists she has left a secret message in the house for Maxie to find. When Sarah dies, Maxie learns that she is her friend's executor. Not only must she find Sarah's secret, but she also needs to cope with Sarah's surly adopted son; an illegitimate daughter that she never knew existed; a mutual friend from college who has always loved Sarah; and the discovery that Sarah did not die of natural causes. Liberally sprinkled with Maxie's down-to-earth observations about RVing, life and the characters she meets, The Serpent's Trail is an entertaining, well-plotted "cozy" mystery. Also evident are the author's trademarks - detailed descriptions of natural landscapes and careful research.

South from Alaska

When Maxie McNabb and her trusty canine companion, Stretch, take to the road in her Winnebago, en route to Colorado to visit her seriously ill friend, she doesn't think for one minute that she is embarking on a life and death excursion. Her dearest friend and old college mate Sarah, is dying and wishes to see Maxie once again to give her some final instructions as her executor. Maxie arrives just too late however, to find that Sarah has been murdered in the local hospital without making it clear why she so urgently wanted to speak to Maxie. Sarah's house has been torn apart by someone searching for documentation and Maxie is confronted rudely by Alan, Sarah's adopted son, who is bitter and resentful that his mother would choose to have an old friend as executor, rather than him. While driving through the mountains with Ed, another old college friend of Maxie and Sarah, they are almost run off the road by someone intent on doing them harm, and later, Maxie is threatened by an intruder who leaves frightening notes, threatening her life. It's very refreshing to have as the heroine of this book, a feisty 60 something widow who doesn't hesitate to bring out the shotgun in her defence and who proves that not all senior citizens are either senile or too timid to live alone, travel and lead interesting lives. I look forward to further adventures with Maxie and Stretch.

More than a mystery

I've been a fan of Sue Henry's since "Murder on the Iditarod Trail" and I've read each book she's published since that first one. Each one is good: well-written, with a sturdy plot and craftsman-like prose. "Serpents Trail" meets my expectations of an enjoyable and interesting mystery experience. And, I really enjoyed Maxie....she is a new kind of heroine: older, practical, fiercely independent, and with an understanding of human behavior which comes with insight and experience. There's nothing unbelievable in this tale: it's the story of how we were growing up in the '50's...innocent, conventional, afraid of social censure. And the results of that environment lead to pain, deep secrets, obsession, and murder. And yes, the ending surprised me until I thought, as Maxie does in the final pages of the book, "Of course, that's the way it had to have been. Funny I didn't see the clues." Like Maxie, I remember those early years, the treacherous innocence, and the painful effect they so often had on us survivors. This book is indeed a well-written story, with a thoughtful and sad conclusion.

RVing sleuth

We first heard of writer Sue Henry when we stopped at Dawson Peaks Resort near Teslin in the Yukon on an RV trip from Anchorage to Seattle. The resort was the setting for the final scenes in Dead North, one of Henry's Alaska mysteries. That novel introduced the character Maxie McNabb, traveling in her RV up the Alaska Highway with her mini-dachshund, Stretch. Readers wanted Maxie to have her own book; The Serpents Trail is the result. Maxie, who travels most of the time in her Minnie Winnie Winnebago motorhome, is a character RVers, as well as readers with a sense of adventure, can relate to. She is a 63 year old widow, smart but cautious. She loves the freedom of RV travel. She isn't a professional sleuth but has common sense, a deep sense of integrity, and encounters situations that need to be solved. As the story opens, Maxie and Stretch are scooting south in her RV from Alaska to fulfill a promise to a longtime friend, terminally ill with a heart condition. Sarah has something important to tell her. Arriving in Colorado Junction, Colorado, Maxie finds Sarah in intensive care. All she can tell Maxie is, "He's not right...." Sarah dies before explaining. It is then up to Maxie, executrix of Sarah's estate, to find the special instructions Sarah has hidden for Maxie in her Victorian house. Someone else has a key and is also searching. As Maxie unravels the puzzle, she finds she doesn't know her dear friend as well as she thought. And someone does not want her finding the instructions, leaving threats and attempting to run her off the road in nearby Colorado National Monument. As Maxie follows the clues to Salt Lake City and back, we get caught up in this tale of intrigue and also get a glimpse into the life of a solo woman RVer. Let's hope this is the first of many in a series. Traveling in an RV will be provide multiple settings for a series of books about Maxie. I wonder where Maxie and Stretch's next adventure will be!