Short Circuited in Charlotte, by Amy Patricia Meade

Who would want to kill the seemingly saintly Philip Morehouse? Seriously, the man has his hand in many areas of research and development, all with the intent to make life better for those less fortunate. He's gathered a group known as the Creators about him who are working on everything from music for the masses to using technology to help those with little or no mobility, as well as yurts for the poor and homeless and fiber optic fabrics for medical uses. The man seems to be highly regarded, liked, and a valuable member of society. 

While I wasn't very fond of main character Stella Buckley, I had to admire her persistence in getting to the truth. Although she came across to me as rather pushy and smugly sure of herself, she also showed a genuine concern for those about her, including the cat in the story. Her husband, Nick, seemed to play a minor but valuable role. His ability to point out some of her failings, such as in operating a stick shift vehicle, also helped even out her smugness. She also didn't like being compared to either Jessica Fletcher or Miss Marple, refusing to harbor the thought that she might be viewed as old to some.

The various characters are a mixed bag. It took me awhile to wrap my brain around the names, I must admit, all designed to show their creative, artsy side, I'm sure. Their creative projects were intriguing, especially knowing how far modern technology has come in using what we'll call robotic suits to help those with limited or no mobility. Most of the characters seemed quite a bit more chatty than one might expect under the tragic circumstances but that does allow Stella to make rapid progress. Between her investigative and observational skills, she's making progress when some seemingly unimportant happenstances help her zero in on "whodunit". 

This book is the first of a new series for the author. Admittedly, I'm honestly not sure whether I'll seek out future books in this series but it was an interesting read, if only for the possible relevance of such creative ventures today. I'm torn on how to rate given my own reaction but will say it is a solid three star for me and would surely rate higher for many. 

Thanks to #NetGalley and #BeyondThePage for the ARC. 

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