The Funeral Murder A PIP Inc. Mystery
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Publisher: Good Read Mysteries, An Imprint of Good Read Publishers
Number of Pages: 248

Synopsis

In The Glass House, the first book in the PIP Inc. Mysteries series Pat Pirard, recently downsized Santa Cruz Law Librarian, needed to find a new job in a hurry. She printed business cards announcing she was Private Investigator Pat and crossed her fingers, hoping she could earn enough money working for attorneys as a PI to survive.

Pat’s first investigation went well, so she’s excited when she gets a call from an estate attorney who offers her a second job. The attorney tells Pat his client died at a funeral and he needs help sorting out who is entitled to inherit her estate.

Pat quickly discovers the dead woman’s past is as complicated as her estate. And when an autopsy indicates she had two deadly toxins in her body when she died, Pat’s new case becomes not only complicated, but dangerous.

Review

I enjoy this series for several reasons. Pat is a good investigator due to her experience as a law librarian, she isn’t afraid to be bold which is evidenced by her yellow car and her actions, and she has a dog.  She has a cat too, but I care more about the dog.  However, after reading this book and what happens near the end, cats aren’t all too bad.

The mystery itself is well laid out. There are obvious suspects but no clues that point to one specific character. I had a hard time deciding who the killer was out of the suspects and couldn’t guess because several had strong motives. The killer was a small surprise but several clues leading up to that moment would have pointed you in another direction.

Outside of the mystery, there was also a storyline about adoption and finding your parents. I enjoyed this as it delved into DNA and comparing reports to determine parentage. I found this to be interesting as I wonder how DNA can tell our past and makes us who were are from our hair and eye color to other traits.

The romance between Pat and Tim is moving right along in this book and while it may seem like it is fast, they seem to be well matched and there is a hint of something to come, perhaps in the next book.

Speaking of the next book, I don’t know if the little teaser phone call she received at the end of the book is the next plotline, but it certainly had me intrigued!

We give this book 4 paws up.

About the Author

Nancy Lynn Jarvis left the real estate profession after she started having so much fun writing the Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries series that she let her license lapse. She’s enjoyed writing about Regan and her husband, Tom, but decided it was time to do a new series.

PIP Inc. introduces protagonist downsized law librarian and not-quite-licensed Private Investigator Pat Pirard. “The Funeral Murder” is the second book in the series.

After earning a BA in behavioral science from San Jose State University, Nancy worked in the advertising department of the San Jose Mercury News. A move to Santa Cruz meant a new job as a librarian and later a stint as the business manager for Shakespeare/Santa Cruz at UCSC.

Currently, she’s enjoying being a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and Santa Cruz Women of Mystery.

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