Bowled Over: 01/21/20

Bowled Over by Victoria Hamilton is the second in the Vintage Kitchen mystery series. It's Independence Day on the American side of the border. Jaymie and friends will be watching the festivities from the park with everyone else. She's brought along potato salad in one of her vintage bowls, something she'll later regret when it ends up being used as a murder weapon.

In A Deadly Grind, Jaymie spends her down time wondering what she did to piss off her once best friend in high school. Now that former friend is dead and the truth will out during the investigation.

There's a lot to unpack with this mystery but it all centers on a family struggling with finances and more broadly, executive function. The dead woman's mother is a hoarder. The family home has suffered in recent decades. Her surviving daughter was in a custody battle with her sister over a child.

And then there's a side plot about another high school friend who has been suffering a debilitating and degenerative disease. She's in a wheelchair now. And she's one of a handful of suspects because of an altercation she and the deceased had.

I'm being vague because the plotting is tight and worth a read or as I did it, a listen. The characters are all memorable. Loose threads are tied up. It is a very satisfying second volume.

The third volume is Freezer I'll Shoot (2013).

Five stars

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