Publication Date Feb 27, 2026
Once an investigative reporter in a big city, Lila Bennett has settled into life in Mount Pleasant. There, she's co-owner of The Gilded Spine, a combo bookshop/cafe, with best friend Amy Johnson. She has a boyfriend, Alan Green, and has made solid friendships. She also had a tendency to find herself in the middle of murder investigations. In this case, it's "Who killed Camden Ward?" Given that Ward had managed to offend, well, almost everyone in town, there are multiple suspects.
Camden is described as a man who lived for the spotlight and it showed in his micro-managing of the town's spring celebration. His rapid fire pandering to the media while quickly making rapid fire changes to schedules and locations with rules that must be obeyed to the dot wasn't gaining him any support. Even his second-in-command, Tessa Langford, seemed perpetually stressed, a stress she then passed along to others. There are many layers to it all, ranging from signs being moved to badge colors and more that made it hard for me as a reader to keep up, so can't imagine regular volunteers dealing well with it all. There's a prologue that sets us up for what is to come, the discovery of Camden's body, and then we slip back a couple days and chapters for what lead up to it. And, oh, bet you can guess who was at hand when marina manager Rob discovers the body. Yep. Lila. While she isn't as actively involved in the investigation, ie putting her life at risk regularly, she's still involved. Police Chief Sofia Martinez has learned to trust her observational skills over the series and asks for her input. She also keeps reminding her to only believe what she sees with her own eyes, too, as well as to stay in her own lane, ie just an idle observer. I liked Sofia's no nonsense, just the facts, manner, I must admit. Meant Lila was concise and specific in her observations, not going off on wild tangents or theories.
Given the volume of clues and/or red herrings that came to her attention, I admired Lila's disciple. I read the first book of this series and noted that I mentioned how pushy she was at questioning and coming up with theory after theory of whodunit, so this was a pleasant change. I'm still not quite taken with the series but do like most of the main characters, especially Amy, who seems to know just how to deal with Lila, from getting her to eat and hydrate to remembering to stay in her lane. I found myself with for a character list, I must admit. Let's just say there are a lot of characters coming and going and I found it difficult to keep track of who was who. As noted, there were a lot of clues and red herrings coming at you fast and furious, too, making it difficult for me to take it all in and make sense of it all. Different colored badges, gossip, gate assignments and reassignments, and an daily calendar of events that seemed to change so often that even event organizers were confused, especially when fake lists began appearing. It was all a bit much for me to take in, probably just me, but a 3.5 rounded to 4 star rating. Others may find it a fun puzzle to sort out, so your mileage may vary. Glad Amy and Alan were there to keep Lila grounded and focused and, of course, we can't forget her beautiful Golden Retriever Finn. Thanks #BookSirens for the early peek at life in Mount Pleasant. One never knows the potential chaos that may be lurking beneath even the most bucolic small town.
No comments:
Post a Comment