Review: Blue Ridge Parkway Plunge is great!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 29, 2011
I read this one first, when it is actually #2 in the series.  I loved it!  Rachel Myers is a character that I really like.  She took her time to decide that she wasn't ready to commit to marriage to her beau in Arizona and decided to give up a good job that she'd held for 16 years and move back to where her roots are in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.  I also chose this book because I've been all through the Blue Ridge Parkway many times and it brought back nice memories of such beauty.Once Rachel gets about halfway settled in, her friend Isaac comes over to ask a favor of her.  A friend of his died by falling over a cliff to his death below, but police have ruled it either suicide or an accident, but Isaac knows in his heart it was neither.  He wants Rachel to do her own little investigation of this incident.  In between getting her house ready, her gardens done with the help of a landscaper, buying a new car, and meetings for her work, she manages to interview a lot of people who could be connected to Isaac's friend's death.  Some of them certainly have good motives, or at least it seems that way.One of the things I loved best about this book is the gardening and the discussions of the different kinds of flowers and plants that Rachel has.  I could just smell the lemon verbena (which is so hard to control!) and was amazed at the different kinds of hosta. Rachel is someone I could easily be friends with, and she would make a great conversationalist and just an all around fun friend.  There is humor in the book, tension, suspense and romance.  Her new suitor hopefully works out, as well as her new job.I intend to download as many as I can of these mysteries.  With cozy mysteries like this one, there is always something new to learn.  Cozy and mystery fans in general, go for it!