Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN: 9781496724335
Kensington Publishing
315 Pages
$7.99; $4.99 Amazon
January 28, 2020
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After her divorce, Athena has returned to coastal Michigan to work in her family's garden center and raise her son, while also caring for a mischievous wild raccoon and fending off her family's annoying talent for nagging. Working alone at the garden center one night, Athena is startled by a handsome stranger who claims to be the rightful owner of a valuable statue her grandfather purchased at a recent estate sale.
But she has even bigger problems on her plate. The powerful Talbot family from whom her pappous bought the statue is threatening to raze the shops on Greene Street's "Little Greece" to make way for a condo. The recent death of the family's patriarch already seemed suspicious, but now it's clear that a murderer is in their midst. Athena will have to live up to her warrior goddess namesake to protect her family from a killer and save their community from ruin...
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Athena moved back home after she lost her job and her husband divorced her, bringing her young son with her, and moving in with her family. She works at her family's garden center, and has so far accepted that this is her new life. One night she comes across a man in the center, looking at a statue of Athena that her grandfather bought at an estate sale, and he tells her that it rightfully belongs to him. After finally getting him to leave, she vows to tell her father about it, but doesn't get the chance when she sees the news the next day and recognizes the man running from the Talbot home as the one she came across. It seems a man was murdered at the estate and he's suspected of being the murderer.
But when the man - Case Donnelly - convinces her that he's been framed, she agrees to help him find the real killer and clear his name. But in doing so, she puts herself in danger...and she just might be the next victim...
Well, I liked the blurb about this book, so I really wanted to read it. Unfortunately, I just thought it was so...dull. Not even the murder mystery could save this, in my opinion. I absolutely hated everyone in her family except her father. They were all so stereotypical of the 'noisy, overbearing Greeks' that it really bothered me. Her sisters were completely over the top, and her mother was way too interfering, considering Athena is thirty-four years old. Also, all of them live in one house? How big is this place, anyway? Why aren't any of her sisters married? Oh, right...they're annoying. (I have three sisters, and if they were anything like any of these three, I wouldn't tell them where I lived).
Speaking of Athena, we know she has a son, but it was like he was wallpaper. He was there when needed, but otherwise out of the picture. I also have to wonder about his father, who would divorce her and then just walk away from his child - and we're not given the reason why he was so willing to abandon his son.
Then the ending...well, the mystery was wrapped up nice and tight, just like it's supposed to, so that is a good thing. I knew pretty much early on who the killer had to be and why, but still wanted to see Athena and Case figure it out. It left us something to look forward to in the next book, if I decide to read it. At this point, I'm not sure I want to visit the Spencer household ever again.
More on Kate Collins's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/kate-collins/
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