Murder Runs in the Family by Tamara Berry

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my Instagram feed are of my own doing. 

Murder Runs in the Family
Tamara Berry
Poisoned Pen Press

Tamara Berry has crafted yet another thoroughly entertaining cozy and I hope this is the start of a new and sassy series. The main character, Amber decides that her life needs a new direction, so she heads to Arizona to find the grandma she was never allowed to meet because according to Moonbeam Effervescence aka Effie, aka Amber’s mom, Grandma Judith aka Jade, is the most selfish person who ever existed and is not to be spoken of or to. How could an inquisitive almost official PI not want to solve that mystery?    

The last thing Amber expected was to discover that her wayward grandma was also the creator of Death Comes Calling, a podcast that she has listened to for the last three years on stakeouts with Bones. Bones, the EX-boyfriend, make sure you understand that he is the EX-boyfriend, is a former Navy Seal, animal loving, official private investigator, and a Neanderthal. I am not sure how Amber doesn’t lose it every time he calls her “babe,” but I do understand why she decided it was time to move on from the role of girlfriend/secretary/underling.

There is more than meets the eyes when it comes to grandma Jade’s posse, shifty septuagenarians, who double as the podcast crew. As she follows the clues we start to see more than what is on the surface. I enjoyed the great introspection by Amber as she analyzes how she seems to be the black sheep in her family but apparently the truth is that it just skipped a generation. Amber’s family isn’t exactly warm and fuzzy which pulls on your heartstrings. In addition to looking inward, Amber starts to really look at Jade’s friends. They are definitely more than just a couple of retirees who spend time baking croissants, taking and placing bets, possibly hacking into the local servers, or playing hide the turtle (no that is not a euphemism). Who would have guessed that you could use Nextdoor to report pet sightings.   

There is one person whom Amber has some difficulty getting to know, Ethan Adler, a guy too young to be in retirement, turns out he is recuperating from a hip surgery. Do I detect a little interest on Amber’s part?

Just wait until you get to the solution to this mystery. I was reading it and shaking my head. I had to read it twice because the first time I literally said “wait…what…no way!” Unless I am mistaken, the next book was tee’d up at the conclusion of this one and I can’t wait to see if PI Amber is in fact able to find Ethan the vet.