Handle With Care by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

 

It is a easy, summery kind of day when the characters of this story are introduced living their lives. They all are going on about their day when they, individually, unknown to each other, have some errand at the local post office.

But what seemed like a normal thing to do, turns into a full fledged hostage situation. They have been locked inside the post office by a man who has lost his mind. A family dispute has taken this ugly turn and what could have been resolved over conversation, has gone haywire.

In that hostage situation, when everything has come to a standstill, the women who are stuck inside, strike a friendship. It is a friendship that understands sadness and disdain. One that understands disappointment. And one that makes up for it all with love and patience.

The story then unfurls slowly - each one telling the others their story and how they came to be in the post office on that unfortunate morning. And in that sharing they forge a bond of understanding and camaraderie. 

Do they get out of the hostage situation? Does each character come out finding solutions to their problems? You will have to read this cozy mystery to know how the story trudged along. 

To me, it was a slow read. Like you would want to read after a heavy lunch and have the storyline lull you to sleep. There is no mystery as such, just a bad situation at hand and one that was handled with care. 

Thanks to NetGalley for approving this read.