A Death in Duck (A Reverend Lindsay Harding Mystery, #2)

by Mindy Quigley

[Mystereity Reviews]

Because I appreciate when people save me some time when I check reviews, the short of it is this book made me swoon like a freshly opened bag of those chocolate sandwich cookies with the heaping glob of creme filling in the middle. A great follow-up to A Murder in Mount Moriah, it's full of humor, wit, sentiment and action. It kept me up until 1 a.m. because I knew I wouldn't sleep until I finished it. If you enjoyed the first book, you'll love this one. If you haven't read the first book, then go out right now and get it.

A Death in Duck is Book 2 of the Reverend Lindsay Harding mysteries. Lindsay thinks she's going to enjoy a relaxing Christmas holiday week on North Carolina's Outer Banks to celebrate her friend's wedding but fate laughs in her face (and stomps on her foot for good measure.)

The first adjective I can throw out to describe this book is "action packed." There's no sitting around on the beach sipping mai-tais for Lindsay on her beach holiday. Between her maid of honor duties for BFF and bridezilla Anna, supporting BFF Rob during a visit from his Taiwanese mother, the disappointment of being ditched to work on a murder case by boyfriend Warren, Lindsay also has to deal with the reappearance of her mother, Sarabelle. And just when she thinks things can't get any worse, she finds her aunt in a shack with a gunshot wound. And that's just the beginning!

There are a bunch things going on at the same time, but everything is skillfully deployed and integrated while avoiding becoming convoluted or bogged down. The pace on this book is a little faster than the last, but no less enjoyable.

I liked that there was a little more back story to the characters, a little more rounding out. You learn a little more about Warren and his family, more about Anna and her past, and a whole a lot more about Lindsay's gnarled family tree. A few newcomers round out the story, I thought the addition of Owen and Mike made a great angle and I look forward to seeing that play out in future books.

A great read, and this series is definitely on my fave list. I will never look at Pomeranians as anything but crazy-eyed mental patients ever again. I think the recipes, even in jest, for Jello boobs and Yule turds would really round out this story