Stephanie Jane reviewed The Wrong Side of Murder by Lauren Carr
Cleverly plotted
4 stars
The Wrong Side of Murder is a cleverly plotted cozy mystery tale which sees intrepid and determined journalist Nikki Bryant trying to discover who murdered a schoolfriend's mother some twenty years previously. It doesn't help that, back then, Nikki was one of the many who jumped to the obvious conclusion that young Jodi must be a murderer. Now she needs to convince Jodi that it is time to come clean about what really happened. What could possibly be worse than a whole town believing you killed your mother?
In true Lauren Carr style, it turns out there's a number of threads to be unravelled before Nikki has any chance at getting to the truth and her nosing around seems to upset quite a few people who would rather see the past remain buried. I really liked Nikki. She's often blunt to the point of rudeness which is refreshingly unusual for …
The Wrong Side of Murder is a cleverly plotted cozy mystery tale which sees intrepid and determined journalist Nikki Bryant trying to discover who murdered a schoolfriend's mother some twenty years previously. It doesn't help that, back then, Nikki was one of the many who jumped to the obvious conclusion that young Jodi must be a murderer. Now she needs to convince Jodi that it is time to come clean about what really happened. What could possibly be worse than a whole town believing you killed your mother?
In true Lauren Carr style, it turns out there's a number of threads to be unravelled before Nikki has any chance at getting to the truth and her nosing around seems to upset quite a few people who would rather see the past remain buried. I really liked Nikki. She's often blunt to the point of rudeness which is refreshingly unusual for a female character, and she doesn't let anyone divert her attention away from her prey. I envisaged her as like a Jack Russell Terrier, with tidiness-obsessed Elmo - Nikki's celebrity Boxer dog pet - capably backing her up.
I did wonder why Jodi had remained in Pine Grove for all those years. Life must have been incredibly difficult for her there, especially with her only remaining friend being a dysfunctional alcoholic. The Wrong Side of Murder has a distinctly different atmosphere from Carr's other, glamorous Mac Faraday series which I have read several mysteries from recently. While still cozy mysteries, Pine Grove feels a little grittier with a hint of menace in the background. That's not to say this novel doesn't have its lighter moments though. Elmo is a total scene-stealer and his ongoing battles with cats Lucy and Ethel make for wickedly funny episodes!