Review Murder in the Milkcase by Candice Miller Speare atThe Christian Suspense Zone

Murder In The Milkcase
Click picture for more information from Heartsong Presents Mysteries
By Candice Miller Speare / Heartsong Presents Mysteries

Reviewed by Jill Hart

The fast-paced story drew me in and the protagonist is charming, imperfections and all.

Who knew grocery shopping could change your life? And yet, that's how it happens for Trish Cunningham in Murder in the Milk Case by Candice Speare.

Trish is working her way through the grocery store, trying to remember the items on her missing shopping list. As she reaches in to grab a gallon of milk, she finds a hand. As she touches the hand, she realizes it's no trick - it's a real hand, attached to a real body. A body that isn't moving. Trish's scream brings over the store manager and thus sets into motion the events that will change her life.

Trish soon finds out that the body belongs to the store's pharmacist, Jim Bob Jenkins, a man who she's recently had a run-in with. As it turns out, Jim Bob has had trouble with a lot of people in their small town. Trish decides to help find the murderer and clear her name. Unfortunately, the murderer may be closer to her than she can imagine - and they may be out to harm her. Will Trish ever be able to return to life as she once knew it?

When I began reading Murder in the Milk Case, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. When I came across the character named 'Jim Bob' I really began to worry. The name Jim Bob brings a strange picture to mind for me and I wasn't sure I could like a character bearing this name. Luckily, he turned out to be an unlikeable character all the way around, so I needn't have worried. The more I read, the more I wanted to read. The fast-paced story drew me in and the protagonist is charming, imperfections and all. The more I read, the more I wanted to read. I hope to see more of Trish Cunningham in the near future.

About Jill Hart
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Murder In The Milkcase
Click picture for more information from Heartsong Presents Mysteries
By Candice Miller Speare / Heartsong Presents Mysteries

Reviewed by Susan Sleeman

Murder In The Milkcase is a well-written, fun and thoroughly enjoyable cozy mystery.

Barbour has launched a new subscription book service called Heartsong Presents Mysteries that is worth every penny of the subscription. Four cozy mysteries are released every six weeks and mailed directly to your home with the postage included in the low subscription price of $13.99. I might sound like an infomercial, but this is one deal that ISN'T too good to be true.

I have had the pleasure of reading only a few titles but the three I have read are winners. The second book I jumped into and zipped through with great interest is Murder In The Milkcase by Candice Miller Speare.

Murder In The Milkcase starts out just like you might expect from the title. Typical wife and mother, Trish Cunningham goes to the grocery store for her weekly groceries. But then all sense of normalcy is thrown out when she discovers the body of pharmacist Jim Bob Jenkins in the milkcase right behind the two-percent milk. This gives a new meaning to the term 'spoiled milk'. Though this is a bad enough start to Trish's one day off from work at the self-storage business, it turns even uglier when she becomes the prime suspect in the murder.

Of course, Trish, being the character she is, sets out to solve the crime. She not only causes her mother upset over her sleuthing tendencies along the way, but she shakes up a murderer, too. A murderer who isn't afraid to kill again.

Though I mentioned that Trish was a typical wife and mother, the author Candice Miller Speare has written her in a fun, snarky and altogether enjoyable voice. Her dialogue is crisp and real and the settings and situations Trish finds herself in smack with authenticity for a suburban wife and mother. Though I have to admit the son who sees dead people is not what you typically find in the suburbs, his plot line is great fun and an essential part of the book. And as any good Heartsong novel provides, Murder In The Milkcase has a special romance between Trish and her husband.

So don't delay, click on the picture and race over to Heartsong Presents Mysteries to sign up as right now you'll receive four free books for doing so.

Candice Speare lives in Maryland surrounded by corn fields and cattle. She writes for Heartsong Presents: Mysteries. Her first book, Murder in the Milk Case, came out in January 2008. The two other books in the series will follow in the following months. Candice is also the content review for Heartsong's cozy mysteries, working closely with editor Susan Downs. Besides plotting fictional murder and mayhem, she is an amateur photographer and fiddles with digital images. She also enjoys exercise--well, mostly. Rumors of her eccentricities are true.

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Reviewed by Jill Hart

Reviewed by Susan Sleeman

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