This one was sort of weird, with Martin juggling a lot of balls in the air at once. There’s Nora’s on-again-off-again relationship with Michael and the constant tension his ties to the mafia brings; a new suitor half-heartedly trying to woo her away; her sister Emma’s continued uneasy relationship with sobriety; the bizarre behaviour of her party-planning friend, and the dead owner of the Fitch estate and a new hot-wing sports bar called Cupcakes.

Martin continues to weave uneasy topics into her plots – this one involving the disreputable dead man and his step-daughter – but mostly this felt like a transition book; more about the character development and overall arc than its own murder mystery.

From a plotting perspective, it was well done – even on re-reading I hadn’t remembered how it ended, but the result was a story that felt more than a little seedy and dissatisfying. Good but with an unpleasant after-taste. ( )

09' Xmas present

I never finished it. It is a number in a seriies and it felt like I should have read previous books to catch up. ( )

This is one of my favorite Blackbird mysteries, even tho the plot was a little weak for me at the end when the murderer was revealed. But I still liked it alot. ( )

Book 5 in the Blackbird Sisters mystery series. ( )