I really enjoyed Julia Buckley's Writers Apprentice Mystery series which inspired me to branch out to this first book of another series. I really liked this one, too. Ms. Buckley writes a nice cozy mystery. You, like me, may have noticed that many cozy protagonists meddle far more in investigative matters than is strictly realistic. Often I think they could be charged with impeding the investigation. Buckley doesn't go there. Her heroines use their brains to analyze the publicly available information. They may ask a few questions, but it's always a discussion with a friend or friendly acquaintance, never grilling a stranger.
Buckley also writes a very realistic small community. She understands the relationships, the eccentric characters, the generations long prejudices that can affect small towns. It's difficult to keep your life private in such a place. (When one of my sisters returned to our home town for a while, she drove 19 miles to the next town to go to the liquor store so no one would be counting how many bottles of wine she bought). Buckley centres this story around the even smaller circle of the church parish. Those are even more gossipy, if that's possible, because of the tendency to be morally judgey in religious contexts.
Only in a small community could you be an undercover cook, as Lilah is. A remarkable number of clients can't cook, but want the reputation of providing tasty, enjoyable food. Once again, a small community, and especially a religious community, will put more emphasis on traditional female tasks. You are judged by things like your housekeeping, the state of your yard, and the quality of your food offerings at public events. Not to mention your volunteer life.
If you can't tell, I really enjoy Buckley's books. The next book in this series is set at Christmas time, so I think I will schedule it for this upcoming December.
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