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Dec 13, 2017RebelBelle13 rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
This is the second novel I've read by Wittig Albert. I was not impressed at all by the first, a novel in her Beatrix Potter mystery series. This one was make or break for me for this author, and I was much more invested in this story and the characters here. China is intelligent and engaging, not annoying, as many cozy mystery protagonists tend to be. Even though this is the second book in the China Bayles series, I was never lost on characters, location, or story. Albert does a nice job of encapsulating her novels so you don't need to read them in order to understand overarching relationships and stories. There's no recipes or tips to clog up the pages, which is also a welcome respite. As to this particular story, the first 75 pages clipped along nicely, then stagnated until around page 200, where everything picked up quickly and raced to a satisfying finish. This seems to be a pattern in cozy mysteries- they establish the town, the characters, the niche (candy store, pastry shop, quilting shop, etc) then the murder occurs, then things slow down until one particular clue is discovered, and then the protagonist figures it out, and corners the murder- either getting them to confess, or for a fight- to the death or the protagonist's advantage. This one is no different. And while it was easy to figure out one of the murderers here, the other was more difficult to put a finger on. There were plenty of red herrings and I was honestly surprised by the second murder, and the other person responsible. I'll definitely continue on with this series. You've got my attention, Albert.