Death & the Redheaded Woman - Loretta Ross [Book Recommendation]

Book obtained from: Library “new books” shelf

Description: The back cover tells us that Wren Morgan, the protagonist, is an auctioneer. While cataloging the contents of an old house for auction, she finds the body of a man suspected in a recent jewel heist. She meets a private eye and part-time bounty hunter, Death Morgan [interesting use of the word Death], who is working to find the stolen jewels and a murderer. Together they work to solve two mysteries.

Plot: The book is a light, fun read and moves quickly. Quite a bit of humor. The story line is sufficiently complicated to make for an interesting read. It wasn't so much a who-done-it, more of a how-done-it. I did NOT guess the “how”. The end included a high-tension, scary predicament and a satisfying twist.

Characterization: The characters are very well-developed and nuanced. I wanted Wren and Death to succeed, and had concerns on how they would pull it off.

Setting: Location is not specifically stated in this book, at least not that I remember. There are mentions of the Civil War and a river. The author is from Missouri and I assume this book is set there. The descriptions were very good, I was able to picture every scene without it being over-described.

Other: This book has a nice romantic sub-plot. There were a few places where I had to read the sentences a few times to figure out who said what [not enough dialogue tags and/or action beats].

Overall: a fun book. I would read more by this author.

Grade: A-