Murder at the Masquerade Ball
The problem with having multiple series you are behind on is that it becomes impossible to balance catching up. I truly had intended to get back to the Braxton Campus Mysteries from James J. Cudney sooner, but I’m glad I finally had a chance to pick up Flower Power Trip, the third in the series.
This series features Kellan Ayrwick, who has recently returned to his hometown in Pennsylvania with his daughter. He’s reconnecting with relatives and working as a professor at the college in town, at least temporarily, as he tries to figure out what to do with his life. And how to deal with the murders that seem to keep popping up and the other dangers in town.
When this book opens, it’s been a few weeks since we last checked in with Kellan. It’s the beginning of summer, and Kellan is teaching a class. Meanwhile, the Mendel Flower Show has decided to use the campus for this summer’s exhibit, which has brought added conflict to campus.
But the summer is kicking off with a masquerade ball to raise funds for the library renovations. Kellan’s friend Maggie oversees the library, so Kellan is going to support her. However, the night ends with one of the guests dead in a part of the library that is off limits to the public. With the police looking at Maggie’s sister, Kellan once again finds himself trying to figure out what is going on. Can he do it?
If you’ve been reading this series, you know there are some strong storylines that continue from one book to the next. Those storylines do border a bit on the soap opera, I’ll confess. But that doesn’t mean I’m not invested. And yes, we do get updates on them, including the cliffhanger from the end of the last book. But I’ll let you read them yourself to see what is going on.
The mystery here is pretty strong, with plenty of suspects and red herrings to keep us engaged as we read. Yes, this does have a tinge of the soap opera about it, too, but honestly, lots of classic mysteries do as well, when you stop and really think about them. It didn’t dampen my enjoyment that much since I was wondering exactly who was the killer. And yes, things do make sense when we reach the ending.
I like Kellan, so it is easy to root for him to figure out what is going on and hope he can figure out the larger things that are going on in his life. But that does bring up my biggest issue with this book. It seems like there are multiple people who want to pick on him, and even his own family has lots of drama in it. Some of the stuff is rather mean spirited, too. Maybe if I’d read these books closer together, I’d be more forgiving or remember the reasons why better. As it is, we aren’t given enough context to remember why the characters interact this way, and it grated. I felt like it went beyond the need to create conflict, too. Since one of the main things I love about cozy books are groups of characters that I want to see interacting, maybe that’s one reason why this bothered me so much.
Obviously, this does mean I found the characters real. I just wish they were a little nicer to each other. Hopefully, that will come as relationships continue to grow.
And let me be clear, I did enjoy the book overall. I’m glad I have the next several books already since I do want to finish the series.
And those on-going stories? You guessed it, we get another cliffhanger. Must find time to read the next book soon.
This is a series I definitely recommend you read in order because of the ongoing storylines. There will definitely be spoilers in them if you don’t.
For those who have been reading these books, they’ll find Flower Power Trip a compelling next chapter in the series.
Here are the rest of the Braxton Campus Mysteries in order.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for stopping by. In order to combat spam, I moderate most comments. I'll get to your comment as soon as I can.