Publication July 9, 2024
How well do we ever know other people?
This is a promising start to a brand new series. I'm not quite sure it'd be accurate to say I immediately liked Hannah Solace, the main character, she's pretty intense, but I definitely found her intriguing. She's smart and does think things through....most of the time. What makes her tick? Why, aside from her sister, is she closed off from family? Her B&B seems to be struggling, so how is she able to just leave so often to pursue leads to the murder of 80-year old Ezra, who she considered a friend, even if he was always cranky and lived in an old house that seemed ready to crumple on his head just any time. What secrets was he hiding? This is the focus of the plot but, oh, my, so much more.
The mystery was complex,
involving lots of possible culprits with motive. Ayla Rose did an
excellent job introducing us to them, but also in weaving a bit of a
mystery around who Hannah and sister Reggie were and where they came
from. Each has had a rough time of it and are very different while still
bonded together. We even learn that Ezra, the victim, had a far more
complex, interesting life than "victim", too. I'm not going to detail
the plot, see the blurb for that, but family dramas, intrigue,
divisions, greed, secrets....oh, you get my drift. Danger? Of course, this is a cozy mystery. Grin. Lots going on, both
related to murder and Hannah's Solace family and past. And, hey, you
know I love books with dogs and this one has a sweet older dog, Moose,
who belonged to the victim and is taken in by Hannah. You'll even learn a
bit about plants and flowers as well as sustainable landscaping, so to
speak, so have a note pad handy if you're looking for hints.
It was perhaps just me but I will note that I stopped reading at one point fairly early on to double check if I wasn't mistaken about the book being the first of the series. There were so many questions early on, mostly relating to Hannah and her return and relationship to others. That was both good and bad. It made me curious but, as noted, it also slowed me down as I couldn't quite figure out who was who and how they were all connected. I'm sure that will be less of an issue as the series goes along, of course, as first books in any series tend to be either info heavy or leave you scratching your head at times as the characters' actions and words don't quite make sense to you. By the end of the book I felt like I had a good handle on connections but, well, it did take awhile, which kept me at a four star rating rather than the five, which was actually rather tempting given the complex, well-fleshed out characters we got to know, albeit slowly. Also, a caution for cozy fans. This is what I'd dub a rather dark cozy with some rather grisly murder descriptions.
Bottom line, however, an excellent start that I'm looking forward to revisiting when the next book comes out. Thanks #NetGalley and #CrookedLaneBooks for introducing me to Hannah and her life in Vermont. I'm looking forward to delving into the complex lives and backgrounds of these characters, especially her old crush Noah and the still mysterious to me Ash. And, for the record, I didn't quite figure it out until the end even if all the clues were there. Let's just say, I got lost in the red herrings.
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