Book Review: Murder of a Mail-Order Bride by Mimi Granger (Love is Murder #2)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong mystery, good core group of characters

Cons: A niggle or two, but nothing major

The Bottom Line:

Bride ends the day dead

Who knew her to want her dead?

A fun mystery

After Marriage Comes Murder

Not being much of a romance reader, I wasn’t sure how I would connect with the Love is Murder series, but I enjoyed the first.  I’m happy to say that Murder of a Mail-Order Bride was another winner.

Lizzie Hale is surprised when Al Little walks into her romance themed bookstore, Love Under the Covers.  Al is a friend and owns the local hardware store in town, but he’s not much of a romance reader. And that’s why he needs Lizzie’s help.  He’s met and become engaged to a woman on line, and he needs Lizzie’s help in arranging an appropriate and romantic welcome to Tinker’s Creek, Ohio.

Svetlana’s arrival in town goes well, and the two plan to marry that weekend.  However, Svetlana goes missing in the middle of the wedding reception.  Then, Lizzie finds her face down in the nearby canal.  With Svetlana being new to town, very few people would have motive, but Lizzie is sure Al didn’t kill his new bride.  Can she figure out who did?

One of my least favorite story telling techniques is a story that opens in the middle of the action and then flashbacks to the real beginning of the story.  Sadly, that’s what happens here.  However, we don’t have to backtrack too far before we catch up to the opening scene, which made me happy.

Overall, the plot is strong.  I figured out a couple of twists early on, but there were still plenty of twists I didn’t see coming.  The result was a story that pulled me in and didn’t let me go until we reached the end.  I was surprised by who the killer was, but it did all make sense.

This book is mostly populated with new characters integral to the plot.  That’s fine because they are well developed and fun.  Characters from the first book, including former suspects, do pop up for cameos, which I enjoyed.  And we have a core three or four characters who get plenty of page time as well.

One thing that is fun is that Lizzie has not had much luck in the romance department herself.  That makes the romantic sub-plot here a bit more like a romantic comedy than we would normally get in a cozy.  I really enjoyed watching that play out.  It also explains why she is a bit more forgiving at one point than I would have been.

And Lizzie’s bookstore sounds fantastic.  Okay, so there isn’t much I would buy there, but the layout in the former house she uses is so much fun I want to at least visit.

Murder of a Mail-Order Bride offers another twist on familiar cozy mystery set ups.  If you are looking for something just a little different, this is a series you will love.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.