Title: Miss Titta, Nurse Chloe
Author: Regena Hoye
Publisher: Ishnuvu Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9636906-4-7
Pages: 308
Genre: Mystery
Reviewed by: Carol Davala
Pacific Book Review
With a story premise that may be fictional but all too familiar, Regena Hoye’s delightfully engaging Southern mystery Miss Titta, Nurse Chloe presents the down home charm of small town country life with the underlying reveal that the unexpected can occur even in the most unlikely of places.
In the tightly knit farm community of Lena, Miss Titta is a gracious widow and the local healer. With herbal remedies made from her own garden, she generously makes the rounds to comfort and treat ailing friends and neighbors. While tending a patient who incurred injury while working at a hazardous turpentine plant, she enlists the help of his young adolescent daughter Chloe. Chloe proves to be an ideal assistant. Joining Miss Titta on her house visits, she begins to look to her as a mentor and soon has aspirations of becoming a nurse. When unexpected tragedy strikes a grievous blow in this normally quiet burg, suddenly doors are being locked, gossip runs rampant, and the town is on edge. A vigilante sensibility soon rises to the surface. Through astute observations and with a keen eye, Miss Titta is soon involved with an investigation seeking justice and due punishment for the heinous individual who brought devastation into their community fold.
In the vein of Jessica Fletcher, the renowned Cabot Cove resident who helped solve the murders and mysteries popularized in the “Murder, She Wrote” television series; Hoye’s story is driven by a cast of quirky characters and the happenings in their enclave. Here the expanding renovations at Jasper’s general store provide a hub-bub of activity; from an affable clerk/delivery man who drinks on the job, and an ex-con polishing a customer’s nails, to a couple involved in a heated argument where the community grapevine transforms the outcome from a stabbing and stitches, to a severed arm. In this country landscape, the “Mailman” can deliver mail, as well as “rumors disguised as news.”
Hoye’s work is richly textured with details. This is a place where peas are shelled on front porches, hard-working farm women imbibe in snuff, and moonshine production can get a family out of debt. Set in the 1950s, the core sentiment speaks to an earlier time when neighbors looked out for one another. Hoye emphasizes lengthy conversational dialogue and face-to-face confrontation. Colloquialisms and responses like “You right ma’am” reflect the Southern dialect strewn throughout. In well-chosen contrast, Hoye weaves a secondary subplot about a profit driven company owner taking advantage of his workers. Smart and savvy women join forces to retaliate against him which not only lends humor to the story, but also emphasizes strong female characters who work together to right wrongs long overdue.
The story follows a relative chronological time frame, until the aftermath of a powerful storm and the revelation of a violent crime. Here the mystery starts to unfold as the narrative goes back in time to retrace the movement of particular individuals. The audience is kept guessing for a while, but select details soon point to the truth. With interesting characters driving a well-thought out plot, Hoye brings to life both the happiness and tragedy which can befall a small town community. Ultimately it proves a genuine homespun blend of the bitter and the sweet.
