Review: 2nd Nell Forrest Mystery
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 30, 2014
ILL-GOTTEN GAINS: I read this book after getting an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC). I did not know at the time that it was a second book in a series, but I assure you that you really don't need to read the prior (NEFARIOUS DOINGS) for this one to make sense. I didn't and I was still able to keep up and enjoy every page.I loved this book. I love Nell Forrest. I also distinctly adore the chapter quotes, in the form of emails Nell gets from her 'middle aged women' column/blog. I also loved taking note of turns of phrase and vocabulary that are not the American norm, perhaps because it is in Australia. :) I still have some words to look up, as my dictionary on my kindle had no such entry! And here, too, not knowing those words is minor, you understand it from context. I just kind of like new words :)Nell Forrest is getting a reputation with the police. She seems to be present at all murders in the small town of Majic. It's nothing she's trying to do, for goodness sake's. She's a middle-aged mom and has five children, all girls. The youngest is still finishing high school. [paraphrase] She doesn't go looking for trouble, but it sure seems to find her! Nell isn't one to back away from intrigue.Nell's separated from her husband, who is pursuing an affair. And now he wants the divorce and basically, the house. Because his paramour is pregnant. That wouldn't be quite the oddest thing, but two of their daughters are also pregnant. AWKWARD.This kind of family drama is exactly what the local historians have stumbled across. Piecing together clues from the last 150 years, the town's lineage is found to be false. It's nothing like what the town has believed. Someone in Majic does not want this information to get out.....Anything more would be spoilers!