IN A MIDNIGHT WOOD by Ellen Hart is number 27 in the Jane Lawless mystery series. I started this title at least twice, but just could not seem to care very much about the characters. I think it was because I was confused (not having had the pleasure of reading the preceding 26 titles in the series) about the relationships and struggled to form a mental image of each person. Also, there were quite a few characters, including several middle aged men who had been involved in some kind of altercation as high school boys. Adding to the difficulties in following the story is Hart's decision to switch between time periods (1999 high school era and the present day). The mystery takes place in small town Castle Lake, Minnesota at a class reunion and I therefore mistakenly expected a "cozier"” vibe, something similar to the upper Midwest mysteries by Sharon Fiffer involving Wisconsin antique picker Jane Wheel (Killer Stuff). Ellen Hart is a prolific writer and was recognized as 2017 Mystery Writers of America’s Grandmaster. Her fans, with more understanding of the back story, are likely to enjoy her latest.

Ellen Hart has been writing stories about Jane Lawless and Cordelia Thorn for many years. This is a series that I read but then stepped away from though not for any particular reason. All to say, that I was happy to meet up with these characters again.

This time the story takes them to Castle Lake where Jane and Cordelia are visiting their friend Emma and hoping to enjoy an arts festival. The weekend will also include a high school reunion and one that has repercussions in the present.

Private investigator by trade, this situation lures Jane in. Read this book to find out what happened then and what that means for now.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

This was a fast and captivating read with a wide range of characters and a plot that kept me guessing. There were a lot of suspects to keep straight! I liked how this was part of a series, but also a stand alone title (I haven't read the other titles and was fine reading this one).

Thank you to Minotaur Books for sending me this cozy to read and review from their Fall Cozies selections!

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2021 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2021/02/2021-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

This book was not what I expected. I will not publicly post a review.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

Jane Lawless, restauranteur, private investigator, and now podcaster, is in Castle Lake to visit her friend, Emma. She can relax, recover from the death of a friend, and stay out of trouble. Maybe not—Cordelia Thorn is along. They are helping at the art fair, Cordelia with talks on the importance of local theater and Jane with a donation of a chef-cooked meal (she, being the chef) to be auctioned off.

Emma’s married but wants to be divorced. She’s using this time away from home to have a discreet affair with an unknown man. It’s her class reunion so a lot of her time is taken up with planning or attending events. The reunion brings up sad memories, though. Emma’s old boyfriend disappeared that year, thought to have run away from home. No trace was ever found, and it doesn’t seem like the police or his family tried too hard to find him. Now a body is being exhumed and repositioned—the husband says his wife always slept on the other side of the bed so now that he’s in hospice, this has to be corrected. When moving the casket, Sam’s backpack is found—along with human bones. Sam didn’t run away, he never left town.

Such a case would be perfect for Jane’s podcast so she begins to investigate. Because of the reunion, all the suspects are once again in the old hometown. Can Jane figure out what happened before they all head home?

When a gruesome death occurs, Jane’s sure she’s on the right track to solve the cold case as well as the current murder.

This is book twenty-seven. Jane’s former lover has passed away, but there is the promise of romance, one that is not toxic. Cordelia is as over the top as ever and likely will never change. After all, why mess with perfection? It was a nice change of pace to set this story out of town, offering Jane the challenge of being out of her element and without personal contacts for help.

I like the characters, and the mystery is always a good one with twists and turns that keep readers guessing until the end. I always look forward to the next book in this series.

This was a fun mystery to read. I enjoyed the friendship of Jane and Cordelia and following along their investigation of the cold case murder. Such a good series.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

In a Midnight Wood is the 27th installment of Ellen Hart's beloved, Jane Lawless mystery series. Y'all, I discovered this series on a whim back in 2018, when I requested a copy of A Whisper of Bones. The cover was gorgeous and I was so blinded by it, I failed to notice it was the 25th book in the series. I decided to give it a go anyway, and I'm so glad that I did!

Like many other long-standing Adult Mystery series, these don't necessarily need to be read in order. I also feel they make great standalones. However, once you meet Jane and her best friend, Cordelia, you'll definitely be back for more!

In this installment, Jane and Cordelia are heading to the quaint town of Castle Rock, in their home state of Minnesota, to visit a friend and participate in a local Arts Festival. The Festival coincides with Homecoming Weekend and the friend they are staying with, Emma, just so happens to be planning her 20th-class reunion for the occasion.

In a completely unrelated turn of events, the body of Emma's high school sweetheart, Sam, is discovered. When Sam went missing 20-years ago, it was assumed he ran away, clearly not the case. Jane, a private investigator, who also happens to be involved in a Podcast that covers Minnesota cold cases is very intrigued with Castle Rock's discovery. So begins the investigation of what happened to Sam all those years ago.

I had a ton of fun reading this. I absolutely love Jane and Cordelia. Their friendship and banter, it cracks me up all the time. At first, I had a little difficulty differentiating between some of the characters we meet in Castle Rock, but once the ball got rolling, that was no longer an issue.

I am really looking forward to picking up more books in this series. I missed the 2019 release, Twisted at the Root, so I will probably start there. I would highly recommend this if you are looking for an Adult Mystery series with LGBTQIA+ representation. I feel like finding that rep in this space can be a challenge. Jane, the protagonist in this series, is a lesbian and there have been queer side characters in both of the installments I have read.

Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I am definitely looking forward to solving more mysteries with Jane Lawless!!!

I really enjoyed my first "Jane Lawless" cozy mystery. It kept my interest throughout the whole book with its tight and strong plot and an interesting female private investigator and podcaster. It was a pleasure to read it.

In A Midnight Wood by Ellen Hart

Minnesota private investigator, Jane Lawless, is headed for a little getaway with her best friend, Cordelia Thorn. They are heading to her hometown of Castle Lake to see an old friend, and to take part in the small town’s local art festival

A good book with lots of mystery and intrigue. Very good plot. We are taken down a long and tedious trail to the end off the book. I recommend this book.

Thank you Net Galley for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for review..

Despite this being a series with 27 books already out there, I somehow had never heard of Jane Lawless. I'm glad that has been rectified now, as this was a clever mystery with a strong female protagonist.

Jane Lawless is a private investigator who also works on a true crime podcast. Visting her friend, Jane finds herself drawn into a mystery surrounding the 1999 disappearance of a teenage boy, brought to a head by an upcoming high school reunion.

The mystery is a good one, with lots of ties to secrets in the past that are linked to characters in the present. I did feel that the ending twist was partly given away by a clue, but I still didn't guess the whole reveal. I was definitely invested in finding out what had happened to the missing teenager.

Jane is a great lead character. I fell in love with her even without having read the previous 26 books in the series. She's strong, believes in herself, and genuinally wants to help others. Her budding romance with the female mayor of the town she is visiting has a lot of sweet potential.

It felt like there was a little too much going on sometimes. There were so many characters I couldn't always remember who everyone was in the beginning. There were a lot of side plots as well (the stalking plotline especially felt unnecessary). But everything came together well in the end, and the resolution felt satisfying.

High school senior Sam Romilly disappears without a trace. Twenty years later private investigator and true crime podcaster Jane. Lawless arrives in Castle Lake, Minnesota. While a new grave is being dug at a local cemetery, a backpack and, what appears to be bones, are found under the adjacent grave

Jane is gathering information about the disappearance for her podcast, but the father and brother of the victim are reluctant to discuss it.. Coincidentally there is a 20th reunion for the local high school and so many of Sam's friends are in town. An absorbing mystery

This long-running series features Jane Lawless, a private investigator with some very quirky friends. I’ve read a few of the books in this series, but haven’t followed it carefully, so I didn’t get some of the back references. Regardless, the story stands on its own, and was an entertaining small village mystery.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Twenty years ago, popular high school senior Sam went missing and all efforts by his family and police to find him were in vain. But on the eve of what would've been his 20th high school reunion, his remains are found, buried under a casket in a local cemetery. True crime podcaster Jane Lawless is visiting a friend in town when she hears about the cold case being reopened, and decides to do her own investigation, leading to a complicated web of secrets that have long been buried.

Considering this was the first Jane Lawless book I've read and also the 27th (!) in the series, I was impressed by the fact that I had no trouble picking up the story. It was definitely intriguing, and great to see an older lesbian lead in a novel, though I'll admit that there were some story elements that I wasn't too keen on. That said, it kept me guessing until the end.

A wonderful addition to this fun series. Congratulations to the author on the 27th in series. I loved this next in series and thank the publisher and Net Galley. My review opinions are my own.

As we join our savvy protagnist she is at Castle Lake for her high school reunion and a art festival with her best friend. She is reminiscing about a high school boyfriend that went missing and was never found. When his remains turn up in another grave before the reunion, Jane is on the case determined to honor him by solving his murder. She has a way of finding clues and with the help of old classmates soon she is on the right track.

This was a great well crafted sleuth and a interesting addition to this series. I enjoy this series very much as Jane is a savvy investigator and has a special talent for finding clues.

The game is afoot In a Midnight Wood, the 27th book in the Jane Lawless series.

Jane Lawless is busy! She runs a successful restaurant in Minnesota. She is a part-time true crime podcaster always on the hunt for new stories. Jane is also a licensed private investigator.

While visiting a friend in rural Castle Lake, a teenage boy’s body is found. Using DNA, the police discover the boy was Sam. Sam went missing twenty years earlier while still in high school.

Jane decides to investigate Sam’s death with help from her friends, Cordelia and Emma. But does Emma have a conflict-of-interest? She was dating Sam up until his death. The town has already pinned Sam’s disappearance on his abusive father. Could the rumors be true? Did Sam’s father kill his own son?

If you feel like a good old-fashioned police procedural with a LGBT viewpoint, In a Midnight Wood will fit the bill. Its clues, as well as its red herrings, are in plain sight. However, it will take a clever armchair detective to unravel all the small town ties to solve the crime. It can easily be read as a standalone. 4 stars!

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

In a Midnight Wood is a story full of secrets. Secrets that contain so much mystery and intrigue....finding out the answers begin to get more and more intense. What happened twenty years ago in the cold case of a missing/murdered young man?
The story is engaging and will keep your interest.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion/review.

3.5 Stars

Jane Lawless is a former private investigator who now works part-time for a Minneapolis podcast. She is also a restaurateur who is staying with her friends Cordelia and Emma in the small town of Castle Lake for their arts festival. While in town, the body of Emma’s high school boyfriend, Sam Romilly, who had disappeared twenty years ago is discovered buried under someone else’s coffin. Jane decides Sam’s murder would make the perfect topic for her true crime podcast and Emma is on board if it can help bring justice for Sam. However, other prominent residents in the town have worked hard to keep the circumstances of Sam’s death secret and will do what it takes to keep the truth from coming out.

In a Midnight Wood is the latest in a long-running series. It’s the first I’ve read so I appreciate that the author included a list of characters at the beginning of the book. This came in handy keeping track of all of the various people in the story. However, it didn’t help me to connect with the characters. I liked the main character, Jane, the most. She is smart and not afraid to go after the truth. She is grieving the death of her on-again/off-again girlfriend, but hasn’t given up on finding love. However, I found her best friend Cordelia to be annoying and too over-the-top, even for a theater director. Emma plays a large part in the story, but I never felt I got to know what she was really like.

The plot of the book is interesting and as more and more secrets are revealed, the more potential suspects in Sam’s murder are added to Jane’s list. The official investigation is complicated since one of the top suspects is Detective Sergeant Dave Tamborsky, the person leading the investigation. Jane’s sleuthing becomes even more important since she seems to be the only objective person who just wants to find out the truth. I liked the idea of Jane doing research for a podcast, but unfortunately that aspect of the book never came to life. Without any excerpts of the finished product, Jane just seemed like any other amateur sleuth instead of a podcaster. There is also a bit too much political and social commentary in the book for my taste and each instance took me out of the story. There are some interesting parts to the way the story ends, but others are a let down after the build-up given throughout the book. This isn’t a series I am interested in following, but I think fans of the author will like seeing the developments in Jane’s complicated personal life.

~ Christine

Another great entry in the Jane Lawless series. Jane and Cordelia are visiting the small town of Castle Lake, MN for an arts festival, which coincides with a 20 year high school reunion for residents of the town. When remains of a member of that class, missing since high school, are unearthed, Jane decides to investigate for a podcast she's involved with. This one is a bit less a whodunit than about the how and why, since it becomes clear early on who was involved in the crime in some way. I enjoyed the way everything came together and how the backstory was fleshed out via flashbacks to 1999. We also get the hint of a potential new romance for Jane, so I'm excited to see where they goes in the next book!

Jane and her friend Cordelia are in Castle Rock for two reasons- to attend a fund raiser and to see if Jane can get some answers about the disappearance of Sam, a teenage boy, back in 1999. They're staying with Emma, who dated Sam in high school. Jane, who is both an investigator and a restauranteur, has discovered podcasting and is interested in cold cases. Well, Sam's case is very cold and there are people who don't want answers, which Jane (and Cordelia) quickly discover. While the mystery is clever and twisty, a large part of the charm of these novels is the relationship between Jane and Cordelia, two gay women who are terrific friends. Hart does provide back story on them (as well as some other characters) early on making this fine as a standalone (it's also a useful catchup for those who have read the series). There's great Minnesota atmospherics (love that this installment took us to a small town). Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A fun read that will keep you guessing.