Love this series of books. Quirky and fun characters to follow along in a story full of twists and turns that keeps you hooked until the end. There are so many unexpected bumps in the road in this story that it is hard to put down. Good read.

LOWCOUNTRY BOOKSHOP; A Liz Talbot Mystery by Susan M. Boyer is #7 in the series. In the series, Liz is assisted by Colleen, a spirit, giving a Paranormal twist to the series. The mailwoman Poppy has found a dead man who she’s accused of beating his wife. This is good, but not the best in the series.

In the fifth book, Liz and her new husband, Nate are hired by a prominent Charleston law firm to find evidence that their client did not push his wife, Shelby Poinsett to death. Now that they are married, Nate is also able to see and hear Colleen, the ghostly protector of Stella Maris. They have two weeks to find evidence before Shelby's husband Clint goes to trial.

This book was not as intense or action packed as some of the others, but it was still enjoyable. There is a lot of watching, listening and talking in this one. Shelby and Nate work the case together, usually in constant communication. The book club was an interesting aspect to the story. This was not a bookclub like the one I belong to, but a rather, high falutin', social status club. Some of the members were quite intriguing and the fact that they don't all like each other was interesting. Liz and Nate seem to be settling in to married life quite nicely. We do not see much of her family in this book and I miss that. The murder seemed a bit ho hum this time around and I hope the next book is more entertaining.

After finishing The Queens of Innis Lear and The Poppy War, both epic fantasies and both epic tragedies, I went looking for something just a bit (OK a lot) lighter and brighter. And remembered the Liz Talbot series. I read the first few books (starting with Lowcountry Boil), enjoyed them, but ran into the “so many books, so little time” conundrum and picked up the subsequent books but never got around to them.

The seventh book in the series, Lowcountry Bookshop is coming out next month, which made this the perfect time to get caught up. I find mysteries to be a good “palate-cleanser” for reading, and this was definitely the right time!

The series features private investigator Liz Talbot, her business partner and new husband, Nate Andrews, and Liz’ guardian ghost, the spirit of her childhood best friend Colleen. Yes, you read that right, one of the main characters is a ghost.

But in spite of the woo-woo that Colleen occasionally contributes, the mystery in this story is very firmly grounded in the reality of here and now. Shelby Poinsett is dead, her husband is accused of her murder, and his lawyer believes that he is innocent and hires Liz and Nate to find the evidence before it is too late.

Shelby was rich, her husband inherits and no one else was in the house. It seems pretty cut and dried, and it looks like Shelby died for the oldest reasons in the book.

Except that no one believes her husband did it. And he already has his half of their very considerable fortune, and did not need to bump off his wife to get his hands on the cash. Theories abound. If it wasn’t the money, maybe jealousy was the motivating factor. There are nasty rumors that Shelby was having an affair.

But no one seriously believes that, either.

It seems impossible to believe that she died over the traditions of a 100-plus year old book club, but it’s starting to seem like what happens at book club stays at book club – at least until Liz prevails on old Southern hospitality and a few people’s need for hot gossip to wedge her way, if not into the inner circle, at least to a near-enough fringe to overhear the juiciest bits.

When someone starts taking poorly aimed potshots at both Liz and her best police pal, it’s obvious that they are getting close to something – even if they still can’t figure out what. Or who. Or why.

Escape Rating B: Lowcountry Book Club is just plain good fun, and it was exactly what I needed this week.

This is a case with a lot of red herrings – an entire school of them. On the one hand, no one seems to have wanted Shelby dead. She seems to be one woman who really was every bit as nice as people originally claimed she was,

Some of the “ladies” in the book club are pretty vile, or at least venal. Even so, the possible murder motives that stem from the book club seem pretty thin, at best. Unless someone really is seriously off their meds.

A lot of the investigation in this case involves removing possibilities, because they begin with a ton of potential suspects, no evidence at all, and very little time before the trial. But they also begin with the notes from the first investigator who worked on the case, and that’s where they finally unearth the leads, which are just a bit glaringly obvious in that direction if no other.

Lowcountry Book Club, in spite of the murder investigation, is a light, quick read. The two leads, Liz and Nate, are fun to follow and it’s a pleasure to see them working together in the middle of their happy ever after, in spite of some of the craziness that brought them together.

I was a bit disappointed that after all of the buildup, the motive for Shelby Poinsett’s murder was so… mundane. She sounded like such a great person, and there was so much drama in the investigation, that when the killer was eventually revealed it seemed a bit out of left field and felt a bit flat.

But I was still reminded of just how much i liked Liz and enjoyed the earlier books in the series. I’ll be back for Lowcountry Bonfire.

Each book gets better the mysteries a little more complicated and our P.I.'s working harder for their clients. This is delightful mystery series.