Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Murder Most Deserving
SERIES: Lacetown Murder Mysteries #2
AUTHOR: Hank Edwards & Deanna Wadsworth
PUBLISHER: Edwards Wadsworth
LENGTH: 322 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 13, 2022
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:
A music festival is in town. Events take a sinister turn when, before long, a body ends up in Michael’s hearse that wasn’t meant to be there. Unfortunately, everyone in town seems a suspect as they all have six degrees of separation from Russell, Michael, Jazz and the previously murdered Dylan from book one.
Now then, the blurb for this book gives the game away for the ending of the previous book – which may have affected my reading pleasure, as I received both manuscripts for review simultaneously. However, having read the story, it was possible to keep the enigma going without mentioning Russell in the blurb – which left me confused.
Murder Most Deserving was a book that I desperately wanted to like more. However, I found it to be a story of extremes and somewhat messy, which some readers may like. But, something about this story simply didn’t click with me. Nevertheless, there were parts that I liked, others that annoyed me, and bits that confused me.
I will attempt to explain but may fail.
On the positive side: –
There were plenty of suspects, misdirection and misinterpretation, and an eclectic range of characters, from the religiously obsessed to the full-of-lifers. Some character relationship developments were amusing. Grandpa was always a welcome addition to any scene, and I wished he had more airtime. Hilton’s experiences with his growing-up daughter. The story contains some details I haven’t read before – so different is good. Can be read as a standalone, although reading it as a series would give more insight. I liked that the drama was show and not tell, as I could live it along with the characters.
Parts that I wasn’t overly keen on: –
The inept police department didn’t seem as though they did any investigating. They only repeated, ‘everyone’s a suspect until Sheriff Musgrave says they aren’t.’ Almost everyone in town can be seen as a suspect, which was too many for me, especially with all the misdirections. Clues fell into laps rather than being an investigated process, and only Michael or Jazz seemed to uncover anything. Multiple viewpoints added to the confusion as there was enough misdirection without them. Initially, lots of mutual appreciation and expressions of luck were good, but then they were overused, decreasing their effectiveness. Some of the humor was from the early eighties and somewhat offensive.
The blurb says that the relationship between Michael and Jazz is stronger than ever, but then the sub-text throws in all sorts of personal doubts. To some extent overthinking is expected given the circumstances, but I wasn’t prepared for the volume of uncertainty – It was a case of I’m lucky to have him, but…
What me confused: –
There was a lot of everything, mounting into a jumble of a mystery that the police seemed to have no hand in solving. So many questions and precious few answers until the end. For me, too much needed answering before the balloon popped and everything suddenly got straightened out, and then I had a WTF moment. I had to wonder if everything that needed answers got them. Maybe this breed of story is simply one my brain can’t comprehend and, instead, is a piece of genius. Then again – if I am feeling like this – others will too.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Amazon