THE USUAL FAMILY MAYHEM

A woman suspects her elderly relatives may be murderers.

At 26, Kasey Nottingham is still struggling to find the right career. She dropped out of law school and has been fired from several jobs, but a friend helped her land her current gig at a business incubator in Washington, D.C. In a moment of panic at a pitch meeting, Kasey recommends investing in Mags’ Desserts, a pie company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. What Kasey fails to disclose is that Mags is her grandmother. The company is co-owned by Mags’ long-term lover, Celia; the two women founded it after they were both left in financial straits by their former husbands. Kasey knows their emotional attachment to the business makes them highly unlikely to sell. Her bosses send her to North Carolina to investigate the opportunity, leaving Kasey feeling trapped in a web of her own lies. If her boss discovers the truth, she’ll be fired, and if Mags and Celia learn the truth, she’ll disappoint them. Once she’s back home in Winston-Salem, Kasey tangles with Jackson Quaid, Celia’s nephew. Kasey has had a crush on Jackson since she was a teenager, but he’s always treated her as an annoyance. When Kasey starts to suspect that Mags and Celia are helping desperate women kill their husbands with poisoned pies, Jackson is the only person she can turn to for help. Kasey is an interesting character with a dynamic and entertaining narrative voice. The book is charming, but the intended audience and genre are unclear. Kasey’s romance with Jackson is a subplot at best, and the cozy mystery aspects are wrapped up by long stretches of exposition rather than active sleuthing. The strong thematic exploration of how women can take control of their lives is undermined by Kasey’s inability to be honest with the family matriarchs.

A lively and engaging narrative voice is the star of this cozy romance-mystery.