Knowledge is power. It's what you do with it that determines whether that knowledge is good or evil. Fran discovers this, just as she discovers knowing people superficially isn't knowing them at all. The plot sounds simple enough. Fran caters a murder mystery party. Some time later, the person who was the victim in the play acting is murdered. Who did it? Was blackmail involved? It shouldn't be Fran's problem to find out, quite frankly, but she met Adam, the young (23) son of the party's hostess while hiding out in a closet of sorts. It's the bond they formed there that guides their future partnership in not just finding out who killed Becky but in growth. Adam is brilliant but socially awkward and prefers to hide out in his room at home. Fran is a wife, mother, and has a business to run. Neither would seem a likely sleuth in the making but somehow it works. Admittedly, I found it slow going at first. The characters weren't really interacting with anyone, even each other and the view point flips back and forth between Fran and Adam, and we are initially largely in their heads. Once they unite and Adam persuades Fran to help him find the murderer before the police suspect his mother of the crime, however, things pick up.
That's when the reality that she doesn't really know the suspects creates the first real obstacle in Fran's pursuit of the truth. Toss in that, quite frankly, she doesn't seem to have any real clue of how to pursue her quest and you can see Fran's awkwardness as a sleuth. She is gutsy, however, even when it means she is meeting up with the potential suspects seemingly without giving a thought as to what she'll do if the actual killer is among them and turns on her. One wonders, will Adam's intelligence help him help Fran or will his apparent ineptness socially make her even more nervous about this haphazard investigation than she already is? The process is fascinating to follow, I have to admit.
While on the surface rather simple, a who poisoned Becky thread, the plot is actually far more intricate and clever than this. Human emotions are involved. Relationships are revealed. Priorities are reordered. And, food.... there is lots and lots of wonderful sounding food eaten and shared. Will Adam come out of his misfit, introverted shell? Will Fran get out of that shed? Will she make it in time for the recital? Who killed Becky? Maybe more to the point, why?
It's all there and despite the slow to me start, maybe because I'd just finished a slam-bam, action from the first paragraph book, I thoroughly enjoyed "Death in Disguise". I am looking forward to the next adventure of Adam and (Fran)Eve and seeing what gadgets Adam comes up with.
Thank you #NetGalley and #Bookouture for the advance copy.
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