Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Murder Most Deserving
SERIES: Lacetown Murder Mysteries #2
AUTHOR: Hank Edwards & Deanna Wadsworth
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 292 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2020
BLURB:
An acoustic music festival comes to Lacetown, and with it, another dead body—this one found at Fleishman’s Funeral Home. Michael recuses himself from the autopsy, handing the job over to his arch-nemesis from a neighboring county.
Luckily Michael and local hairstylist Jazz are closer than ever. Between a trio of funerals, a blowout BBQ, and a couple of trips on Beulah, Jazz’s beloved scooter, Michael and Jazz do some sleuthing of their own. With the first gruesome murder still fresh in their memories, they can’t help but wonder if notorious murderer and famous author Russell Withingham might be targeting them from jail, where he’s awaiting trial.
The festival, however, brings in a veritable lineup of potential killers, including a familiar—and most unwelcome—figure from their past. As the murderer circles ever closer to Jazz and Michael, Sheriff Musgrave is quick to remind them that everyone’s a suspect until Sheriff Musgrave says they’re not!
REVIEW:
If you guys love murder mysteries, this is the series for you. Although, I do need to warn reader, if you have any triggers, there are some in this book. Severe homophobia, hate crime murders, religious hate, and other stuff. It gets kind of nasty at some points, so be careful if it’s an issue for you.
For me, I am in love with this series. I knew something was up with some of these people, but I had no clue how these twists were going to turn out. It was a complete surprise and I am excited that I’ve gotten to read this series. It’s amazing.
Jazz and Michael still really haven’t recovered from the last murders and who all was involved. But they are still trying to make their way forward. Until one date night, they see a ‘blast from the past’ that brings everything back to the front. And not in a good way. They are both trying to move on from it all, but when a murder ends up in Michael’s place of business, it starts a string of events that almost make them look like suspects, and the trying to find out who is really behind it all. Which means Jazz needs to make a visit he doesn’t want to. But as things keep moving on, they are finding out things aren’t adding up, and the people involved aren’t who they claim to be. And now they need to get to the bottom of things, before Jazz or Michael end up dead themselves.
I feel for these two. Jazz, I think a little more. Even though the events of the last murders and everything from the last book, involved them both, Jazz was involved in a different way. And still is. But hopefully not for long. And with the way the murderer is trying to play things now, it’s just making it worse. But when they are targeted for the murder sites, it just keeps bringing things back to them that they’d rather forget. And for Jazz, he feels like he’s done nothing but bring bad into Michael’s life. The guilt, the PTSD, all of it is causing some major issues they need to deal with. And once again, communication is the key. Until Jazz can open up and really admit how he feels, it’s going to keep getting harder on him. I hate it too, because he doesn’t deserve it. Neither does Michael. What they have is special and rare and they need to hold on to it tight and let nothing try to break it up. And hopefully, it will continue to be that way.
This series is so so so good. I can’t wait to see what comes up next. These two crack me up with their sleuthing skills. And what’s good about this series, is that even though it is a murder mystery, it’s fun too. In some ways. Jazz alone makes it hilarious with his personality. You guys really need to try this series out.
RATING: 
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