Murder Can Wreck Your Reunion: A Desiree Shapiro Mystery

The moment I was done with book three ( Murder can stunt your growth) I simply had to get my hands on the next one and this was even more fun than the previous adventure! Desiree unearths a major discovery; the new case that centers around Raven, a dead sorority sister shockingly displays the discord between old college friends, one of them being her own niece, Ellen. When the ladies meet up after a long break to catch up and see what they are up to, one of the sisters shows up uninvited and ends up dead, having jumped from her balcony into an empty pool in the middle of the night. Raven had the audacity to show up after years of fighting with the girls but no one is more perplexed than her own brother, who hires Desiree to shine some light on an investigation that seems to point to Ellen being the guilty one. Desiree of course doubts that Ellen could have done something so horrible and sets out to interview all the sisters, to see which one liked Raven the least, trouble is once the old college stories start coming out, everyone is guilty, Raven was a corrupted, self centered person who's success centered around destroying other people's lives, and everyone who has death with her doesn't seem too saddened for hear untimely death. More shocking secrets reveal some answers for her behavior but in the end it's not enough to have kept her safe, someone has managed to have Raven jump, how and why is another question, but between old friends and dark secrets a murdered sits and waits for the wrong person to be accused so that they can get on with their life with some smug satisfaction of having gotten rid of an old enemy. Gossip and good food permeates the whole novel, making the list of suspects long and complex, and reasons for committing the crime increase as Raven's nasty little antics come out into the open. The mystery was a fun and enjoyable one, and so good that I have all ready started reading the next one, sometimes it's hard to stop when the writing is so good, interesting and intriguing to the point where it lives beyond the pages. Both Desiree and Ellen have men in their lives that provide some comic relief, especially when it comes to Desiree and the trusty tub of ice cream is never far away. This was a real joy to read, I wish more books were this fun and cunning. And I really liked the ending, it was kind of wild, not the typical finish I'd expect, but good and punchy. - Kasia S.