I truly enjoyed this mystery despite realizing the identity of the murderer a little over 50 pages in and the murderer's motivation less than 100 pages later. I'm hoping the author's deftness with red herrings continues to grow with the series, not to mention subtlety and better integration when it comes to revealing clues about the murderer's identity. The main protagonist, Mandy, is realistic and thankfully lacking the stereotypical shrillness, self-involvement and superficiality that often mars cozy series female characters. She has a good set of secondary characters supporting her and adding depth and history to her life. Although the mystery's solution was transparent the author has a good voice and excellent pacing, never letting the reader feel as though the plot were stagnating. I’m looking forward to reading more in this series and watching the characters, primary and secondary, grow and reveal more of their history.
