Here is another fine tale in the really popular Kate Holly mystery series by Charlotte Hughes. In this adventures once again reluctantly dragged into complex psychological drama. But this time the drama comes from a temporary receptionist that Kate hires to help while her regular receptionist and best friend Mona is out sick.
It begins with little things the woman does that seem a bit weird like being overly friendly and taking on a lot of chores that are not normally in receptionist job descriptions. Then it progresses to the wearing of identical outfits purchased from the same stores where Kate gets her clothes. Then Abigail has her hair died and cut in exactly the same hair style as Kate.
When Abigail starts showing up at some of the same places outside of work and Kate notices that there is a white car following her around Kate becomes a little concerned. When Abigail does not interrupt Kate with an urgent call by an associate Psychologist about one of the patients with whom the two of them are working jointly and that patient ends up in the hospital as an attempted suicide Kate finally has enough and fires Abigail.
At this point things turn from weird to worse. Abigail’s obsession with Kate progresses to the point that she begins to try to sabotage relations between Kate and some of her other friends. She steals some of Kate’s patient files and breaks into Kate’s home. Kate can’t prove anything but finally does call the police who realize immediately that Kate is the victim of a “Stalker”.
Well, I think you get the picture. This is a story full of people with psychological issues. Almost all the characters have issues. Even Kate, who is the person who is supposed to be helping everyone, must try to help herself and deal with her issues. You might say that Hughes is giving us a little slice of life; maybe even of our own lives.
For me the thing that makes this story so compelling is that it is laced with humor throughout. One of the funniest scenes takes place when Kate has a friend (the Vet for her pet dog, “Mike”) escort her to a wedding reception (party). When they approach the serving table one of the servers is carving something and ask if they would likes some. Kate asks what it is and he says “Spam”. She and her friend decline the offer. Then her friend is talked into tossing back shots of moonshine by one of Kate’s relatives from “the hills” and gets blind drunk. One of Kate’s patients is there who is going through the required period of “being” a woman before undergoing the sex change operation. He has one of Kate’s hill country associates coming on to him until he finally has to let the man know he is not really a woman. He is angrily told that if he lets anyone know he was coming on to him he would shoot both of his kneecaps out. Even though the party is sort of a disaster Kate has fun and gets her friend home safely.
“High Anxiety” is, indeed a great title for this story. Charlotte Hughes has given us another gem and I hope to read more of Kate’s adventures. I rate this one a 9 of 10 on the Weaver meter.
