“I’m wondering if I’m really cut out for this PI business. Or if I’m just trying to show everyone I’m more than a has-been actress. That I can actually do something other than pretending to be someone else.”

This seems to be the theme of the book. Maizie is struggling to find her footing with her career and with her private life.

The book starts with Maizie and Rhonda finding the body of Maizie’s former costume designer who has recently settled in Black Pine. As the bodies pile up, Maizie questions her decision to become a private investigator…was it just a whim? The mystery is a really good one and had me guessing until the very end. There are enough characters to make it interesting, but not too many to make it confusing. The character, Annie, is introduced to us as Maizie’s new boss and mentor in her new office, having begun working for Vicky.

While the mystery is fantastic, the parallel story is engrossing and perfectly woven. Maizie really wants to prove her worth as an independent private investigator, but in true Maizie fashion, she ends up trying to be an Annie-Nash mashup character as she tries to navigate through investigating the crime. This is certainly a more mature, serious (but not too) installment than previous outings, but it still has the comic elements that make Maizie and Nash so endearing (see Billy, the convertible).

While reading, many questions were rolling around in my brain:

Will Maizie spend one too many lunches and late-night phone calls with Ian?

Will Rhonda and Tiffany ever speak to her again?

Will Maizie ever find out why Nash is so preoccupied and where he has been every night?

Why does Maizie seem to hate the bed and new curtains in the office, and what’s her issue with the camo tie?

Is Maizie more like her mother than she realizes? [gasp!]

Who assaulted Lucky?

Will Nash lose not only his business, but also Maizie?

Joan Dukore once again brings this colorful cast of characters to life.

I received an ARC and got nothing done around the house until the story was told, Maizie and Nash being my secret obsession. This was the best installment so far, and that is saying a lot! Cannot wait until 19 is written!