Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; [Audio CD]; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496719539; [9781974938094]
Kensington Publishing [Dreamscape Media]
288 Pages
$7.99; $17.26; $6.89 Amazon
January 29, 2019
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After a rough divorce, Abby McCree only wants to stitch up her life and move on. But other loose ends appear after her elderly Aunt Sybil passes away, leaving Abby to tend to a rundown estate, complete with a slobbery Mastiff of questionable pedigree and a sexy tenant who growls more than the dog. As Abby gets drawn into a tight-knit quilting guild, she makes a twisted discovery - Aunt Sybil's only known rival is buried in her backyard!
Despite what local detectives say, Abby refuses to accept that her beloved aunt had anything to do with the murder. While navigating a busy social calendar and rediscovering the art of quilting, she launches an investigation of her own to clear Aunt Sybil's name and catch the true culprit. The incriminating clues roll in, yet Abby can't help but wonder - can she survive her new responsibilities in Snowberry Creek and still manage to patch together a killer's deadly pattern without becoming the next victim?
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Abby McCree is a recent divorceé who's been left her Aunt Sybil's big Victorian home and its contents. She's also doing well financially due to the fact she escaped her marriage with half the proceeds of the company that she and her husband started and ran together, and her aunt left her a tidy sum as well. So for now, she doesn't need to work, because it seems she already has a full schedule - even if it's not one of her choosing.
It seems she's also inherited her aunt's obligations to the town, which include running the Quilting Guild and chairing the town's Committee on Senior Affairs, even though she doesn't quilt and isn't a senior. Somehow she hasn't been able to free herself of these duties, so decides to make the best of it until someone else takes over.
She's also 'inherited' her aunt's tenant, Tripp Blackston, an ex-soldier who's now a student at the local college and lives in the carriage house behind her home. Tripp isn't the friendliest of people, but he handles his part of the bargain - doing chores around the home in exchange for reduced rent. Last but not least, she's also inherited her aunt's mostly-Mastiff dog Zeke. Yes, Abby definitely has a full life.
One day she's trying to cut the blackberry bushes in her yard when Tripp suggests that they hire goats, who will eat their way through. Strange as it seems, Abby is willing to go along with it. But she's not so willing to go along with what the goats seem to have dug up - a body buried in her yard, wrapped in a shroud that appears to be part of a quilt she recognizes as belonging to her aunt.
When the police determine it's the body of Dolly Cayhill, whom everyone thought was still out of town (which she does every year after Christmas, being a snowbird), Abby begins hearing rumors how her aunt and Dolly hated and were constantly trying to one-up each other. She also hears that they got into a fight over the Senior Committee, and Sybil was accused of poisoning members of the guild using Dolly's famous crab dip.
Even though she and Tripp don't believe a word of it, it doesn't count - especially since Tripp is also in the rumor mill of being the one to move and bury the body. While the sheriff, Tripp's friend Gage Logan, is investigating, he won't tell Abby anything and she doesn't want to sit around twiddling her thumbs while waiting to find out who murdered the woman. After all, she has her aunt's reputation to protect, so what if she ruffles a few feathers? However, those feathers don't want to be ruffled, and Abby soon finds that maybe the murderer isn't done with killing yet...
This is the first book in a new series, and I really didn't know what to expect. I must say that I am pleasantly surprised by it. The plot is well written and well thought out, giving the reader something to look forward to - and it's not another nosy amateur sleuth who walks around demanding answers and accusing everyone of murder.
She's also not one of those women who can't cook and eats fast food whenever she's hungry, or doesn't even have dog food in the house and needs to run to the store every night when she realizes she needs to feed her pet. Abby, having once run her own business, bakes quite a bit when she's restless and keeps her pet in plenty of food and treats.
She's also not invasive in her questioning. While she does ask questions, they're innocuous and basically just to get people to offer whatever information they want to give her. She never presses anyone or makes them uncomfortable. It's a breath of fresh air in the 'crime-solving' world. I like the fact that she's not making enemies in town (although she did 'inherit' once again, enemies in the form of Dolly's friends).
When the ending comes and the killer is revealed, the clues were there all along, and while I knew who the murderer was, it was enjoyable to watch it all play out; while Abby didn't knowingly put herself in danger, yes, she took a risk, but what kind of mystery would it have been if she played it safe throughout the entire story?
All in all, an entertaining tale that is worth reading. So get your self a cup of coffee (or tea, if you prefer), sit back, relax and travel with Abby on a lively journey of intrigue and discovery. I look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Committee-Abby-McCree-Mystery/dp/1496719530/ref
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2992730532
More on Alexis Morgan's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/alexis-morgan/
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