Death Gone A-Rye: 05/28/21

Death Gone A-Rye by Winnie Archer is the sixth book in the Bread Shop mystery series. Bobby and Em are married and off to their honeymoon. Before they can leave, word comes in of a murder of the Santa Sofia school board president, Nessa Renchrik. Miguel Babtista is top of the list of persons of interest.

Sometimes a mystery has a dearth of suspects. This one almost has too many. Nessa had burned a lot of bridges. She was a career Karen.

In fact, it was the emphasis on how awful Nessa that first reminded me of The Big Nap by Ayelet Waldman (2001). The big difference, though, is who the focus is on. In Waldman's mystery, it's the missing girl's father. He's awful and therefore must be one behind her disappearance. Nessa, though, is the victim and her murder is justified because of her awfulness.

Despite the clunky set up, I found the mystery engaging. Much of it is tied up in events that happened ten years earlier. For Ivy the challenge is piecing together two different timelines: events a decade ago and the last days of Nessa's life.

The parallel timelines brings to mind another mystery I recently enjoyed, A Side of Murder by Amy Pershing (2021). The two mysteries also share a murder victim who managed to burn enough bridges to make solving their murder difficult.

Book seven is A Murder Yule Regret which is scheduled for release on November 30, 2021.

Five stars

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