A fun cozy mystery set within a unique and intriguing backdrop of re-enacting and reenactors. The story within a story was creative and interesting; intertwining past and present and throwing in enough history to make readers want to learn more. This would make a great gift for both mystery and history lovers.

I enjoyed this book more than the previous one focused on a Laura Ingalls Wilder tour. I found the info. on reenacting a bit more interesting. There were the usual, for this series, multiple story lines. One focusing on Chloe, one on Roelke which intertwines with Chloe's) and one a historical one focusing on one of Roelke's ancestors.

So, again, the author packs a lot of detail and information into the book including more on Chloe and Roelke's relationship. There's so much, it's a bit of a slog at times. However, it kept me interested enough that I kept going. I'm going to go with a modest like, but I would recommend it with reservations. I commend the author for what she's trying to do and how the historical story line works into the 1980's story lines, but I don't think the average mystery reader is looking for this, even one like me who is a museum buff.

I got my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This turned out to be a really interesting and fun story to read. It did start off slow though, and I was thinking about putting it away but powered through. And it was well worth it.

The mystery was well written and I couldn't for the life of me figure out who the murderer was until it was revealed in the book. The characters were well written and it was interesting how Ernst combined the characters current stories with their ancestors back in the day.

I did like all the references to reenacting and the Civil war, but sometimes the details of reenacting got a bit too much for me. Mostly because I wasn't interested in that part and therefore found those passages somewhat boring to read. However, it was still interesting and it did work well, but it did get a bit too detailed at times.

Ernst focuses on the impact of the Civil War on immigrant communities in her latest mystery, this time tying directly into Chloe's boyfriend's family history. Ernst does an excellent job bringing the human aspect to greater historical events, and I enjoyed learning more about the feelings recent immigrants had about participating in the war. A great mystery with well-research historical underpinnings.