RENEWED FOR MURDER (Blue Ridge Library Mysteries #6) by Victoria Gilbert will be published on December 7th 2021 by Crooked Lane Books.
Amy Webber Muir gets caught up in another murder investigation after a woman is found shot to death in Zelda Shoemaker's backyard. Zelda was being blackmailed by the victim, and she is automatically the number one suspect. When Zelda refuses to discuss the murder or her past history with the woman, Amy's aunt enlists her help to clear her best friend's name. Amy uses her research skills to look into Zelda's past. She also looks into a high school chorus competition that took place fifty years earlier. It was a reunion of the chorus group that brought the victim back to town, and it seems there are a number of people who might have killed her to keep their secrets in the past.
RENEWED FOR MURDER is the sixth book in the Blue Ridge Library mystery series. I have read the other five books, and am familiar with the characters and the series. I found RENEWED FOR DEATH lacking in excitement and intrigue. The plot dragged, and I had a hard time getting into the story. Considering the suspect is Amy's close friend, it took Amy a long time to really put in the time and effort to do go about proving Zelda did not commit the crime. Despite the urgency to help Zelda, there was a definite lack of urgency to do anything. Even Zelda didn't seem too concerned with proving her innocence. There were a number of suspects, and the identity of the killer kept me guessing until the end—mainly because the actual killer is never considered a suspect, has no real reason to be considered a suspect, and has a flimsy motive. Overall, the book adds to the series and keeps the storyline moving.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.