MUD BOG MURDER

By Lesley A. Diehl

The new Eve Appel Mystery is here and it is absolutely terrific.

This time around, Jenny McCleary makes up her mind to lease her swampland property to the annual Mud Bog Races that are held in the small town of Sabal Bay, Florida. Sadly, this brings in a crowd of environmental activists that want to protest the event loud and clear. Along with these folks come monster truck fans, and soon the situation turns into one of divided camps: activists versus devout fans.

Eve Appel and her friend join with the environmentalist group on the first day of the event. But in the middle of the first race, Jenny McCleary’s head goes flying by (literally) and lands by the wheel of a truck. Now, of course, all the protesters have become suspects in Jenny’s murder.

Eve sets out to solve the horrible crime. What’s left of Jenny is found near the airboat business of Eve’s Indian friends, Sammy Egret and his grandfather, and when more evidence comes to light, Sammy’s grandfather is arrested for the murder.

Eve is in all kinds of quandaries at this point. She had wanted to protest the mud bog event even if it meant that the repercussion would be losing customers at her consignment shop. In addition, Eve’s protesting may make it impossible for her to move into her new home because the townspeople may not forgive her for disrupting their annual event. And in the romance department, Eve is also struggling to decide between two very handsome men; Alex, a local PI, and Sammy, one who can only be described as “wow!”

As her investigation moves forward, the anger between the people heats up, and a killer may just focus his or her sights on Eve’s demise.

A great mystery that is all about a fun cast combined with an excellent plot, readers will be thrilled with this one.