REVIEW: Secrets, Lies and Crawfish Pies

Secrets, Lies, and Crawfish Pies
Author: Abby Vandiver

Downsized from her job as a medical examiner in Chicago, Romaine Wilder returns to Roble, TX to live with her Aunt Suzanne who raised her. Auntie Zanne is a bit of an eccentric, practicing Voodoo herbalism to help those around her. The family business is the Ball Funeral Home and Crematorium. Her auntie spent 2 weeks in Chicago helping Romie get ready to move. They arrive in Texas to a surprise, but not the kind people enjoy receiving. The funeral home has a guest -- an extra dead body. Not only do they have no idea about the identity of the deceased middle aged man reclining in one of their caskets...but it appears that he has been murdered. Romie soon finds herself involved in a murder investigation along with her aunt and her cousin, Pogue, the local sheriff. 

I enjoyed this book. It's a nice start to a new cozy series! The characters are eccentric, lively and have that spunky southern country attitude. It made the story fun to read! Aunt Zanne is my favorite character. She really rushes in and takes everything over when she gets a notion into her head. It does make her butt heads frequently with her niece....but only because the two women are a lot alike -- intelligent and independent. I did find Romie to be a bit less determined than her auntie. At times she didn't seem to react to things the way a doctor would, but if I had just lost my job in Chicago and moved to east-nowhere small town Texas, I would probably react to things a little slowly myself. The one thing that bothered me is that the premise of her moving to Texas was that she couldn't find another job in Chicago. I don't believe it would be difficult for a doctor, especially a medical examiner, to find a job in a large metro area. She wasn't dismissed for malpractice or a problem on the job....but downsized. I don't believe she would have been forced to move to Texas. And surely a doctor would have some savings or credit to fall back on in an emergency. That part of the plot just didn't make sense to me. But......it's a cozy and not meant to be a realistic hard-hitting crime novel. Romie came back home to help bake crawfish pie and solve a murder. :)

The mystery moved along at a nice pace with plenty of twists and sleuthing. The story definitely kept my attention from beginning to end.

This is the first cozy I have read where all the main characters are black. It was refreshing and enjoyable to read! The characters were wonderful, well developed, and entertaining.

All in all, a great beginning to a new cozy series! I can't wait to read more!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Henery Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**