Park Ridge: A Senior Center Murder
Cheryl Hagedorn
Booklocker (2006)
ISBN 9781601450234
Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (1/07)

Park Ridge is a senior center in Chicago. Like at most senior centers, the members play cards, play pool, visit and take dance classes. Jack, Ellie, Margaret and the Professor play cards each day. Gordon was less than enthusiastic about Jack. “Hot headed Jack with his typical short man’s bluster coupled with an acid tongue had a hard time being civil to anyone including the director. Don’t know how those other folk put up with him.” The feeling was mutual. Jack just plain didn’t like Gordon.

When Gordon is found murdered, his fellow card-playing friends consider Jack the prime suspect. A lively discussion ensues on who each would like to murder. “Presuming, of course, that the perpetrator would not be discovered, and therefore, not apprehended? If I didn’t think that I would get caught, I would select as target for my exercise the esteemed (but not by me) Benjamin Wilson, resident computer guru, I loathe that man.”

So begins the game of murder.

Detective Stanley Nevins is sent to investigate the case. From the moment he and Teresa Cusentino, director Park Ridge, lay eyes on each other, they feel an attraction. As Stan investigates the escalating case his relationship with Teresa grows stronger.

Cheryl Hagedorn’s “Park Ridge” is a delightful murder mystery. The plot is interesting and not only held my attention but also was extremely funny. The characters are well developed. Jack, Margaret, and Ellie were a senior center’s worst nightmare -- out of control card players, developing a new game, one that’s deadly. The romance between Stan and Teresa was nicely developed without rushing things. I eagerly turned pages to see what the seniors would come up with next. This is an excellent read. I highly recommend this book to all mystery lovers.

Park Ridge
Cheryl Hagedorn
BookLocker.com
1601450230 $14.95

Cheryl Hagedorn is a late bloomer in the world of writing and publishing. She gained her Masters Degree in Writing from DePaul University after a varied career that included computer programming; the Salvation Army; and actually teaching writing at the setting of her mystery, the Park Ridge Senior Center. She's also taught writing at the Chicago Department on Aging. She is a member of the Emily Dickenson International Society and the Illinois Philological Association.

What happens at Senior Centers? Do people form cliques? This is what Cheryl Hagedorn uses as the basis for her PD James type of psychological mystery. Hagedorn's own Park Ridge Senior Center serves as the backdrop. A group of long-term pinochle players dare each other to commit murder to get rid of the pushy active members of the Senior Center. Four modus operandi's form a confusing soup for Detective Stanley Nevins, son of Stella Nevins, another Senior Center attendee. To make things worse, Stan drops by to see his mother, only to discover that she has been seeing one of the pinochle players:

"A kaleidoscope of emotions zoomed through the detective's head. THE PROFESSOR! THE GUY PLAYING CARDS FROM THE CENTER WHO HAD CALLED STAN 'STUNNING SHEILA'S SON.' THE ONE WHO DID THE THING ABOUT ALLITERATION. He took a seat near the window. The coffee table with its two cups, two dirty dessert plates loomed between them and him. The two men eyed each other. Gus lifted his chin as if defying Stan to speak."

Hagedorn does a nice job of recreating daily business at a Senior Center and creating characters who are interesting. Human nature drives her plot, and one can imagine the seething resentments, even in a place that should be completely non-threatening. But there's the rub. Take a seemingly neutral environment and add passion and cruelty, and one has an excellent plot. Hagedorn's own understanding of human nature from years of experience provides the spark, and her writing skills tell the rest of the story. PARK RIDGE is an entertaining whodunit that rates with Agatha Christie and could easily convert to an enticing television movie.
Shelley Glodowski, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review