Thank you to the author 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.
Hometown Mysteries #5
Rosalie Speilman
Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Tessa Treslow reporting for maid of honor duty and murder solving, sir. This is the fifth Hometown Mystery book and my first time reading from this series. The story is a stand-alone cozy that takes place in the town of New Oslo, Idaho. Tessa, moved back home after a successful service career to take her place working with her Aunt Edna, restoring vintage vehicles, (and solving mysteries). This latest book does not involve vintage vehicles, but it does involve something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, plus a dead body or two.
Tessa hasn’t always gotten along with Jezebel aka Jessie who is engaged to Tessa’s high school boyfriend so why on earth is she agreeing to be her maid of honor? It certainly makes for an entertaining plot as do several of the characters. Jessie, the bride, for one has an unfortunate name, a bit of a reputation that she is trying to put way behind her, four ex-husbands, and a beautiful set of twin girls who can seem a little odd at times.
Shelby, Jessie’s high school BFF frenemy, is a professional wedding planner, so why wasn’t she asked to help. Most likely because she is a frenemy who irritates everyone every time she opens her mouth. Tessa and the other ladies have everything well in hand, but Shelby tries to steamroll Jessie, the gang and their hard work. Needless to say, I half expected Shelby to be the victim because she is only slightly less repugnant than Jessie's first husband, Zane, the actual victim. Much of my enjoyment while reading this book involves the back and forth between Tessa and Aunt Edna. Everyone needs an Aunt Edna to help keep you straight and to listen when needed or to give advice when you might not want it. Something that Tessa seems to need from time to time to keep her cool when dealing with Shelby, who really should not have been invited in the first place. Tessa didn’t return from duty with PTSD; she came back with a bit of anger and Shelby does a great job of triggering. I appreciate the realness that Ms. Spellman incorporates into the story, from Tessa’s need to contact her therapist to Nick’s loss of limb from his time in the service. There is some light-heartedness to balance out the real-life seriousness.
In addition, there are some really good red herrings to go along with the shifty suspects to keep you entertained and turning pages. Who is that guy that says he is a PI and who really hired him? Both the bride and the groom are on the suspect list, but we know that they couldn’t have done it, right? One more cozy aspect to this story is that there is also a fur baby, Vince the boxer, who is a butt wiggling ball of fun. All in all, this is a good read that has me wanting to check out the rest of the series to see how it all started.
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