A small Australian town called Majic is the home of Nell Forrest. Majic has a bookstore, an art gallery, a community center, police station, a few restaurants and a rather large Richard III society. It sounds very much like most small towns - except of course for the murder, arson, death threats, disappearances and adultery - quite bucolic.
Nell writes a weekly column and occasionally helps out at
the bookstore owned by her mom. Her
husband recently left her for a younger woman but she certainly isn’t
lonely. Her home is virtually central
station with the comings and goings of her five daughters, her mother, her
sister and their various friends it can hardly be described as deserted.
Especially after, out of necessity, her mother moves in.
Her mother’s house is torched and after her mother is
rescued and the fire is extinguished the body of a neighbour is uncovered in
the garage. Since the neighbour and her
mother disliked each other intensely, her mother appears to be a likely suspect
for murder. So Nell, her sister and daughters
join forces to prove grandma is innocent.
Their sleuthing is more comical than professional but somehow they touch
a nerve because Nell receives a threatening voice mail and another innocent
soul is found murdered. The local detective Ashley Armistead warns Nell that she could be endangering herself by not
leaving matters to the police, but of course she doesn’t listen and Armistead’s
warning becomes reality.
This is a light, comical and entertaining mystery. I loved how each chapter started with an email
or note to Nell from a reader of her Middle-aged Spread column. Some of these notes are hysterical. I also loved how the thoughts in Nell’s head often
take the form of headlines - “Local woman helps police with their inquiries.
Implicates elderly mother.” And her sarcasm is sharp and witty.
Nefarious Doings is a fun and cozy read and I am looking
forward to the next Nell Forrest book, Ill-gotten Gains from Ilsa Evans.
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