Simmering Secrets of Weeping Mary
A Deuteronomy Devilrow Mystery
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 125 pages
Publisher: Longhorn Creek Press (March 2005)
ISBN-10: 0971435898
ISBN-13: 978-0971435896
When twelve year old Deuteronomy Devilrow returns home to Weeping Mary for her cousin Nehemiah’s funeral, she discovers his death was no accident. Police skills learned while living with Miz Zan, a Fort Worth detective, plus Duty’s raw intelligence and rural cunning prompt the young African-American girl to investigate.
Gr. 4-7. “When her favorite older cousin, Nehemiah, is killed, Deuteronomy (“Duty”) Devilrow, 12, returns to her small-town Texas home for the funeral. She has been living in Fort Worth and preparing for college with her tough, loving, white mentor, Miz Zan, a homicide detective. But there are questions that make Duty wonder if Nehemiah could have been murdered. With Miz Zan’s support, Duty investigates and saves her family from killers. The detective work is contrived. The real mystery revolves around the young black sleuth’s identity. Why is Duty the spitting image of white Senator Deveraux’s oldest daughter? Frels’ fiction debut will hold readers with its smart yet naive protagonist and its fast and funny first-person narrative.” ~Hazel Rochman, Booklist
