It’s raining bodies! Oh, just one body but still!
Staging is Murder by Grace Topping is a fun mystery with a reluctant amateur detective. This book is a wonderful start to a new series. I can’t wait to see what Laura and Nita get into next.
The reluctant sleuth, Laura Bishop
Laura Bishop really doesn’t want to investigate a client’s murder, but she wants to help out her friend Tyrone who is accused of the murder. She promised his Grandmother that she would clear his name. Laura really doesn’t know what she is doing, she has read many mysteries, but she doesn’t remember how the sleuths figured it out.
What I like about Laura is even though she doesn’t feel courageous she is. She stands by her word which I feel like not many people do anymore. The one thing that bothered me about Laura is she is holding on the negative opinions of her dead family members. She needs to embrace the positive aspect of her new life and live the way she wants to live.
Nita Martino
Nita is that crazy friend that pushes us to do the insane things that we never think we can do. I love Nita and her large, loud Italian-American family. They give Laura the support that she needs, with a side of teasing, picking and lots of food. Nita and her husband seem to feed everyone that enters their home. Which is most likely due to them being recent empty nesters.
Nita’s character gives the story the humor and warmth that is needed to keep Laura grounded and moving forward, not only with her looking for clues but also to provide Laura with the confidence to be the Staging professional that she wants to be.
Mystery
The mystery is kind of funny and yet the clues are laid out well, with plenty of suspects and red herrings to throw us off. I enjoyed the small-town atmosphere and how the characters all went to school together. Which made it even harder to figure out who would have wanted to kill Victoria Denton as the list was relatively long. The victim was not a nice person.
4 Stars for Staging is Murder by Grace Topping
My rating for Staging is Murder by Grace Topping is four stars. The story is charming with references to many great detectives. I enjoyed this book and looked forward to the next one in this new series. I recommend it to all the cozy mystery readers out there.
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This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove