I have been a fan of Debra H. Goldstein’s cozy mysteries since I read the first book in her Sarah Blair Mystery, a culinary cozy about a woman who can’t cook. Sort of like Madison Montgomery in my Baker Street Mystery series, except not even Maddy would come up with a recipe like Jello in a Can. ROFL However, I recently read Should Have Played Poker, which Debra actually wrote before the Sarah Blair series. So, I decided to give it a read.
This mystery grabbed me with the first sentence, “The First Time I Thought of Killing Him, The Two of Us were having chicken sandwiches at that fast-food place with the oversized rubber bird anchored to its roof.” WOW! Talk about a hook! This book certainly has one. I immediately wanted to know more. Who did she want to kill? Did she kill him? I mean, it’s a murder mystery so anything is possible. Especially, when I kept reading and learned that the conversation was between a woman and a lawyer. Oh boy. Now, that’s good stuff.
I started reading and found myself immersed into a book that was deep. This book is more than just a catchy hook. It’s a book about families, blood and chosen. It’s about loss, right and wrong, and love. That’s a lot for any book, but when you can find all of that wrapped up in a cozy, then you’ve really landed on something special. The protagonist, Carrie Martin, is an attorney. She’s the attorney. The one listening to the confessions of the woman who abandoned her-her mother. Talk about drama! There’s plenty of drama, as well as laughter in this cozy. There’s also a well-plotted, interesting mystery with loads of Southern charm and an interesting cast of supporting characters. I enjoyed the book and I highly recommend it.
Carrie Martin’s balancing of her corporate lawyer job and visiting her father at the Sunshine Village Retirement Home is further upset when her mother appears after a twenty-six-year absence. She makes a shocking confession to Carrie and leaves her with a sealed envelope.
Before Carrie can open the envelope or find the answers to the past, tragedy strikes. Although told to leave the sleuthing to the police, Carrie can’t.
With the unorthodox, but enthusiastic, help of her co-sleuths, the Sunshine Village Mah Jongg players, Carrie also finds herself at odds with her former lover—the detective assigned to her mother’s case. And that’s not all!
As Carrie and the Mah Jongg players unravel the secrets hidden in Wahoo, Alabama, their efforts reveal what every good Mah Jongg (and Poker) player knows: Truth and integrity aren’t always what we’ve been taught to believe, and one could die making that discovery.