Thursday, May 15, 2014

Book Review: The Sleuth Sisters by Maggie Pill

After retiring early from being a big-city lawyer, Barbara (Barb) Evans is at a bit of a loose end. Sure she has her part-time gig of fixing other people’s grammar mistakes – even if it means doing it under the cover of night. When her sister, Faye, approaches her about starting a detective agency she’s not sure the idea is for her. However Faye wins her over and together they start the Smart Detective Agency. Small cases start rolling in, but they finally hit the big-time when they are approached to find Meredith Brown’s brother, Neil. Neil was accused of killing his wife and brother-in-law six years ago and has been a fugitive ever since. Meredith wants to find her brother and try to clear his name. With some help from little sister, Retta, Faye and Barb set about to solve this case.

I like my cozy mysteries a lot! I also like trying out new-to-me authors in the hope that I will find one that will end up on my favourites list. When I first picked up The Sleuth Sisters I liked the idea of a detective agency run by two sisters. With the eye-catching shoes on the front cover, it looked like a promising read. What I didn’t bargain on was becoming completely captivated by the mystery it contained.

The mystery that Faye, Barb and Retta have to unravel pulled me in and I couldn’t let go of it until I had turned the last page. In a way it is a dead end case, in that the father of the murder victims is certain that his son-in-law killed his daughter and son. Since Neil Brown ran off on the day of the murder he looks like the guilty party. However, when Faye and Barb start to hunt down Neil they make some people uneasy, particularly the real murderer. It was fun trying to piece together the mystery and figure it out before Barb, Faye and Retta did.

Faye and Barb are not just sisters but best friends, even finishing each other’s sentences. Retta is the youngest and feels a little left out, especially with Barb not wanting Retta to be a part of the detective agency. In The Sleuth Sisters Maggie Pill has introduced us to three sisters, sisters that you might recognize from your own family or friends you might know. The family dynamics were very believable, and they are all different and I felt interested in their backgrounds and the adventure they were going on together.

The Sleuth Sisters is a great debut. It was fun tagging along with these girls as they solved their first major mystery and I can’t wait for the second book in the series.

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