In this third book
in the Oakwood Mystery series, Charley Carpenter is suffering form
insomnia. The renovation of her shop, Old Hat, keeps experiencing
unexplained delays; Marcus Trenault, her detective lover, is out of
town; and to make matters worse, the new neighbors scream at each
other at all hours of the night.
Missing Marcus,
Charlie is finding distraction in a new feature in the local paper,
Ask Jackie. Most of the letters are interesting because of the sassy
advice offered in the column, but one letter asks for help because a
young child is in danger. That afternoon, Charlie hears noises
emanating from the house next door. She tries to ignore the
commotion, but finally goes to investigate because the sounds are of
someone in distress. She finds her new neighbor, Judith, kneeling
beside the body of her older daughter.
Charlie tries to
stay out of the case, but when she believes the sheriff’s office is
going down the wrong path, she can’t help but step in. Having talked briefly to Judith before her murder, she believes the letter in Ask Jackie is somehow tied into the murder.
This book lives up
to the promise of the first two in the series. Charley Carpenter and
her friends are intelligent women. They take it on themselves to
solve the murder when the detective assigned seems to be
belligerently following the wrong trail. The clues are presented
throughout the story making it possible to try to guess who the
murderer is. However, the twist at the end makes it difficult.
If you enjoy cozy
mysteries with a strong female character, this is a good book. It can
be read as a standalone even though it’s part of a series.
I received this book
from Net Galley for this review.
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