October 2023: Book Recommendation: The Legacy by Gail Bowen (A Joanne Kilbourn Mystery)

I hope everyone survived Thanksgiving. Our fridge is full of leftovers. I tried a recipe for waffles that used leftover stuffing that was delicious. Definitely recommend trying one of the many recipes out there.

Published: ECW Press, October 2023

Categories: Cozy Mystery / Mystery / Female Sleuths / Amateur Sleuths / Canadian Setting

Blurb:

When Joanne Shreve’s former student, Val Masluk, writes the biography of acclaimed novelist Steven Brooks, Val once again becomes part of Joanne’s life. The biography is already raising troubling questions about Brooks’s past, and the wedding of Brooks’s daughter and Joanne’s son is scheduled for the day before the biography is published.

Both Joanne and her former student are haunted by memories of the seminar that led to the deaths of two people and the murder conviction of a third. The publication of the Brooks biography poses a threat not only to the future of the man and woman about to be married but also to the futures of those who love them. Joanne is certain that the threat is rooted in either her past or in that of Steven Brooks. The collateral damage caused by exposing that link will bring pain to both families, but life has taught Joanne that the only thing worse than knowing is not knowing.

Thoughts:

The Legacy by Gail Bowen is a mix of reflection and complex family dynamics. On the cusp of Joanne’s youngest son’s marriage, fans are treated to a look into what’s happening in Joanne and Zack’s personal life. One of the best things about the Joanne Kilbourn mystery series is Bowen’s ability to make Joanne a mature, three-dimensional woman with an active life full of all the activities usually associated with much younger protagonists. The Shreve family’s day to day is intertwined with a slow burn of a mystery involving their future daughter-in-law’s father. What follows is a complex web of past and present happenings that end in a page turning resolution. Definitely recommend.

Thank you to ECW Press and Netgalley for gifting me with an ARC.

Until next time…

What’s everyone reading these days now that the nights are longer and cooler?