Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book (Audiobook Available)
ISBN #: 9781496735676
Kensington Publishing
320 Pages
$7.99; $6.99 Amazon
September 22, 2022
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Tis the day after Christmas, following a wicked-busy time of year for Mac's bike shop. It's just as well her Cozy Capers Book Group's new pick is a nerve-soothing coloring book mystery, especially when she has last-minute wedding planning to do. But all pre-wedding jitters fade into the background when Mac and her fiancé, Tim, begin a cottage renovation project and open up a wall to find a skeleton -- sitting on a stool, dressed in an old-fashioned wedding gown.
As Mac delves into the decades-old mystery with the help of librarian Flo and her brook group, she discovers a story of star-crossed lovers and feuding families worthy of the bard himself. Yet this tale has a modern-day villain still lurking in Mac's quaint seaside town, ready to make this a murderous New Year's Eve...
✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽
Mackenzie 'Mac' Almeida is getting ready for her wedding to fiancé Tim Brunelle. But before the wedding, they want to at least knock down a few walls in their home to make ready for a new, larger bathroom. Unfortunately, when one of the walls is opened, they discover a skeleton of a woman in what remains of a wedding dress, sitting on a stool. Now Mac is not only horrified, she needs to find out who did this, and why. Delving into the home's past and who owned it at the supposed time of the woman's death is a start...
With the help of her book club members, between them they might just be able to solve this mystery. When they discover her identity, it starts to rock some families in the community. But with her nuptials coming up fast, and meeting Tim's parents for the first time, will Mac be able to solve this? Or will the sad story remain just that...
This is the fourth book in the series and I have read them all. This one is by far my favorite. Anyone who knows me knows that I love a mystery-within-a-mystery, especially if it is from long ago. The moment the skeleton was discovered, I was hooked. I wanted as much as Mac to find the truth in this, and solve it right along with her.
When the clues started turning up, I was mentally keeping them in order, so that I might solve it first. But they were so well done that I really didn't need to. The story is indeed a sad -- albeit horrific -- tale of murder. The motives as old as time itself. But to do such a thing one must have evil inside them, and evil is in the hearts of man, and one cannot see in others' hearts.
The mystery itself was done extremely well. Mac was able to keep her personal life moving smoothly (although it might not have seemed so) at the same time as trying to solve the decades-old murder. She was nervous about her wedding (who isn't?) but managed to make sure everything was in order. At the same time, she was depending on her book club members who were adding what information they could, especially Flo (bless her heart); who, by being a librarian, had access to more than the others.
My only complaint, and this is a personal one, no bearing on the book, is that I have always wondered why these characters drink so much. Never tea nor water, just wine and booze; and no physical complaints from doing so. I guess part of it is because I love iced tea and flavored water, and even milk. The other part is I'd like to see them stay sober once in a while. Ah, well. This is my personal opinion and I would never ding the author for it!
At the end, when we discover the murderer we see how cold-hearted one can be, and what people will do when they think they are doing right. Very sad, but very satisfying as far as ending goes. I do love this series and look forward to the next. Highly recommended.
I was given a copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Maddie Day's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/maddie-day/
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