About the Book
The bodies keep piling up along Chestnut Street…
When Sister Bernadette hears from the local pharmacist about plans to redevelop and gentrify their small community on Chestnut Street, she rallies her neighbors at The Abbey: Senior Living to help stop it. Chestnut Street is home to local mom-and-pop businesses that The Abbey’s residents frequently access. But when the healthy pharmacist mysteriously drops dead with no discernable reason, Detective AJ Lewis is stumped. Then another, younger, business owner dies with no explanation, and AJ is suspicious and starts to dig.
Sister Bernie, trying to solve small, seemingly nonsensical thefts, is intrigued and positions herself to collaborate with the police for what she hopes will be her second murder investigation. Why did two seemingly healthy men conveniently die? Who’s behind the shadowy Vision Corporation? Each question leads to a dead end or another question. And then there’s an unexpected death at The Abbey.
Coincidence or connection?
Murder’s becoming a bad habit Sister Bernie and AJ are determined to break.
Melissa Westemeier grew up around the edge of nerd culture, but marriage and motherhood with three sons immersed her in it. She’s fluent in Marvel, DC, Dr. Who, Star Wars, Godzilla, and more thanks to their influence.
Review
Lots of quirky characters make this a fun read with laugh-out-loud moments. The MC, Sister Bernadette, is older and a dominant force, as she likely was when she was actively a nun and teacher. The church and school closed and the building was re-purposed to The Abbey, a senior living facility with apartments and other amenities.
Meadow is the manager and younger of the seniors, while Fern is the oldest and frailest. She adds the calming force as various residents disagree. Not far from The Abbey, on Chestnut Street, stores are being pressured to sell out to a development company. One staunch objector, Ethan, is found dead. As Bernie jumps in to find answers the detectives - AJ and Taylor - can't find, spearheads an organized attack on the Vision, residents have objects disappearing. Then there's another person with a suspicious death, and then another.
The tale is well-written with eccentric characters, lots of surprises and suspects. It is both witty and heartwarming. Genre is definitely cozy, but with AJ predominant as well, includes police procedural. This is the second in the series. It can be read alone, still I always recommend you start with the first book in the series.
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in the hopes that I would post an honest review. This has not affected the content of my review in any way.
About the Author
Her fiction work includes rom-com and a trilogy loosely based on her experience tending bar on the Wolf River in Wisconsin. She’s thrilled to realize her childhood dream of writing murder mysteries.
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