Review: Another great Rachel Myers murder mystery
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 4, 2011
Appalachian Trail Mix is number 5 in the Rachel Myers Murder Mystery series by Annis Ward Jackson. I loved this one, but I am going to have to go back and read them in order because some things had happened in book 4 that left me a bit puzzled at the beginning of this one, but I figured them out.  I suggest reading them in order.  I've read one other and loved that one, too.Rachel is settled in with her new job as administrator of the Sheppard Springs Retirement Center in her home territory in North Carolina, and her former boyfriend, Robby, and his son have moved on to St. Louis, Missouri where Robby is now Chief Detective for their police department.  Rachel and the other members of her chamber ensemble are looking for a violinist to take the place of their former violinist who passed away.  They have just a couple of weeks to find a replacement.Amidst all of this, a man named Julian Spencer comes to town and is interested in doing some advertising for the retirement center where Rachel is employed.  He gives his presentation which is very nice. Julian Spencer is quite handsome and takes Rachel to lunch.  It's a bit hard to pin him down on when he can commit to doing some ad work for the retirement center, though.Rachel's female friends decide that in order to get her mind off Robby, it would be good for her to go on a hike on the Appalachian Trail with them in a few weeks.  It would be a 9-mile hike that would go through a corner of the county.  Knowing that it would be futile to say no, Rachel agrees, packs up and on the chosen day takes off with her friends for the hike.Rachel is an excellent gardener and since it is early April, signs of spring are showing, but for Rachel, it isn't a lovely patch of early wildflowers she finds, but instead it is a dead body lying in the forest.  They seem to appear wherever Rachel goes. She finds the body of a young woman wrapped in a red plaid blanket, and it looks like she's been dumped in the woods where no one would be likely to find her.Rachel and her friends call 9-1-1 and have the authorities come out to look at and remove the body.  Rachel and her friends are questioned, and throughout the rest of the book, people who could be suspects pop up everywhere and with motives.  Through all the background checks, questioning and denials, the ending will bring to light something you won't expect and someone with a trail of crimes as long as the Appalachian Trail.Rachel Myers is just an all-around nice person who doesn't take much foolishness, but who is kind and gives the benefit of the doubt.  She is an accomplished cello player with the chamber ensemble who can still use some help once in a while, an excellent gardener and also an accomplished horsewoman.  She loves her home in North Carolina and her father's best friend, Isaac, who lives nearby.  Rachel Myers, the creation of Annis Ward Jackson, is someoneI'd like to have as friend and neighbor.  This is the second book I've read, and I want to read the entire series.  5 stars from me!