The Borrowed and Blue Murders

This fast paced and nicely plotted mystery features an intriguing protagonist who has a young infant and an imminent marriage to the cop she loves. If that isn't enough to keep her going, she's faced with several murders and three of the groom's brothers, who take over her house. This book was a trip into the mind of a woman juggling everything in order to make things work, even as murder and mayhem explodes around her. And Merry Jones made this story work, and work nicely at that!

After postponing the wedding due to a high risk pregnancy, art therapist Zoe Hayes is in the final countdown to saying I do. Although she is run off her feet, she remains relatively calm as she deals with an upset hyperactive wedding planner and dodging her boss at the Psychiatric Institute. Her home is taken over by her fiancé's two brothers Tony and Sam, who look almost exactly like her beloved. She does not mind them monopolizing her home and her fiancé Detective Nick Silver, but she wishes they would include her in their discussions. Zoe's tranquility is shattered when she discovers a gutted woman on her patio. The police think it was a drug deal that turned hideous as the suppliers worked her over to get to illegal contraband inside her stomach. That theory goes down in flames when the victim is identified as a Homeland Security Agent who Tony recognizes as the woman who bumped into him. The forth Zoe Hayes mystery is hilarious as it is fun to watch the heroine jump from one crisis to another while also dealing with post partum depression, bridal anxiety disorder, caring for a disorderly baby, and trying to fit in with Nick's eccentric family. Readers are interested in the goings on of the cast as it seems everyone seeks something from everyone else even the dead agent. Chaos is the norm for Zoe and the guys while humor and excitement is the norm for readers. Harriet Klausner