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Thursday, March 20, 2025

Murder at Hideaway House (Eve Marlow Mystery Book 14), by Clare Chase

 Publication May 7, 2025 

How far would you go to achieve a long time desire?

Although I occasionally find myself annoyed with Eve for her obsessive curiosity and use of her job, writing obituaries, to question suspects, I also enjoy this series immensely. What can I say, I'm a sucker for character driven books and this series has a set of well developed regular characters and even the background of suspects seems to be nicely fleshed out. As a result, it's understandable why Eve sometimes finds it hard to approach someone as a suspect when, well, that person is a friend, someone she likes. Everyone has secrets, however, and, oh, my, there are a ton of them in this one. What seems like a normal renovation job leads to murder and explosive secrets unraveling families and associates. Nothing simple about this one. 

Who killed Duncan Blake? I won't detail the plot but it is full of twists and turns involving those secrets, obsessions with the past, affairs of the heart, shady business deals, shattered hopes and dreams, families being ripped apart, adorable, much-loved children, and it seems like everyone is lying. How will Eve sort out who did it when even the innocent may be protecting others? It was nice to not only see that Eve has gotten good about having backup but that Eve and new husband Robin work so well together, even if it did remind me that I seem to have missed a few books in the series. Robin was still sort of keeping a low profile last book I read, now they're married and he's able to be open, even if his gardening know-how doesn't seem to have dimmed. They were invited to Hideaway House so Eve could write a review of the facility, which is what started this whole investigation for Eve. Needless to say, the usual gang of friends is on hand to help sort it all out and you've got to love Moira's sleuthing personality. Oh, and I can't forget Gus, Eve's adorable dachshund, who provides his own kind of assistance.

Bottom line, a top-notch mystery with memorable characters, both good and bad. You won't feel much sympathy for the initial victim, though, that's for sure. That's said, I found myself warming to the various suspects, even the guilty party. Takes a talented author to make readers feel that way, I'd say. Thanks #Bookouture for this early peek back into Eve's life, a reminder to me to do some catch up reading. Library, here I come!

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