A Sprinkle in Time (Shake Shop Mystery, #2), by Dana Mentink

Secrets. Ambition. Family. Justice. All these and more play a role in the murder mystery in "A Sprinkle of Time". Secrets kept are good, right? Not necessarily, especially if they allow ambition to rule one's actions, especially when others are involved. Family....secrets kept can destroy a family, even if kept with the best intentions. As for justice, to quote the book, "Justice was satisfying, but it came with consequences of so much pain for so many."

I have to admit to finding it slow going at first, maybe because I hadn't read the first book in the series, but I was quickly able to sort out who was who and how they were connected and was hooked. While it was intriguing to see Trinidad Jones' mind process the clues, we also learn quite a bit about not just her and boyfriend Quinn but her grandfather Papa Luis, who drives the 1951 Buick that becomes a vital element of the mystery. I also loved her old dog, Noodles, who seemed to know more about what was going on within the various characters than they sometimes seemed to realize themselves.

I won't detail the plot, plot recaps are easily available, but this was definitely the first cozy mystery I've read where it basically begins with the main characters finding a body that then disappears before the local police can arrive. Who was it? Where did the body go? How did someone get it from the trunk to move it elsewhere so quickly? Or, whoa, was the person even dead? Why did Quinn sell his timber acres? How did Gabe's three exes all become such close friends? Can one moment of carelessness change lives forever? The answer to all these and more can be found in "A Sprinkle in Time'.

Thank you #NetGalley and #PoisonedPenPress for letting me visit Upper Sprocket for awhile. I'm looking forward to revisiting and maybe, just maybe, caging a ride in Papa Luis' '51 Buick.