3 out of 4 stars
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Lily White Lie is a playful, light mystery, the 3rd in a three-book series. Author Connie Chappell skillfully includes facts and tidbits about an eclectic mix of historical research, small-town politics, heraldry, architecture, guns, and gardening, in just enough depth to add interest and to immerse us into Wrenn’s story.
Wrenn Grayson, alone while her boyfriend Gideon is gone for the week, unexpectedly has to deal with Gideon’s old friend, Bret Kilmore, showing up and moving himself right in. Bret’s presumptuous manner and secretive ways annoy her, but she can’t turn away her boyfriend’s best friend, especially since he comes bearing news and a gift from Gideon’s missing father.
We follow along with Wrenn adjusting to her surprise houseguest while she organizes the town holiday carnival and works on generating business for her historical writing career aspirations. When she’s asked to determine the provenance and ownership of an ancient watch, she’s delighted by the wonderful opportunity, but that’s when trouble begins. She starts receiving mysteriously phrased threats. She desperately wishes Gideon would return, but only has the secretive and annoying Bret to rely on.
I enjoyed that the mystery kept taking off on tangents – or did it? It would head away from the obvious, but circle right back. Think it’s solved? No, it just headed off another way entirely. It all made sense in the end, but the clear answers just kept not quite fitting up until then! It was fun.
It’s all told from Wrenn’s point of view, being privy to her thoughts and motivations. At one point, Wrenn was in a damp, poorly-lit cellar, searching through archival documents, excited about the task, but not at all happy about the work conditions. I loved how she gave herself a pep talk about Middle Age heraldry scribes working under much worse conditions. Things like that added realism to both the story and Wrenn’s character. Most of the time, she was like someone you might meet, someone with her own personality and quirks.
This latter was necessary because her reactions and interactions with Bret struck me as rather odd. Actually, the writing itself was odd in a few places, something was a bit off. There were strange phrases like, “I ticked back” and “congealing our business arrangement”. After her boss insisted on her stepping through the door of opportunity to further her career, Wrenn’s appreciation was stated: “This was K.C., his girth preventing the aforementioned door from slamming shut.” Perhaps it’s meant to be funny describing his physical attribute as a way of stopping a metaphorical event from occurring, but it doesn’t work. At times I found the oddities out of place; eventually I was able to attribute them to Wrenn’s unique personality and allow them to convince me that Wrenn has her own ways.
I rate this 3 out of 4 stars. This is a fun book for anyone looking for a quirky, amusing mystery. There are several misused words and a few other errors; that, along with the oddities, is why I’m taking off a star. This is not a deep or intense story, look elsewhere for that. When you’re in the mood for a lighthearted, engaging mystery, this is a good choice. It does stand alone as a complete story but I certainly want to read the other books by this author.
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Lily White Lie
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