Once I started reading Murder Next Door, I didn't put it down until I finished it. For all you cozy mystery lovers this should be on your TBR pile for sure! I have not read any other novels by this author but I definitely will be looking for more of her books. I found Charlie to be relatable and a character you want to know more about and love the mysterious setting in the town of Redemption. I look forward to finding out what happens next for Charlie Kingsley.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Thanks to BookSirens for the ARC
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Murder Next Door is the third installment of Michele Pariza Wacek's Charlie Kingsley Mystery series. In this book, Charlie's good friend Mildred comes to Charlie's house because she is concerned about a neighbor Jonas. Mildred is concerned because Jonas has uncharacteristically left town on a month's vacation and another man has moved into Jonas' house but won't answer the door when Mildred knocked and is only seen outside at night. Charlie agrees to accompany Mildred to Jonas' house to attempt to speak with the occupant. When he finally answers the door, he informs them that he is housesitting for Jonas and that he has a medical condition that is made worse by exposure to the sun. As a result of this visit, Mildred starts making claims that the housesitter is a vampire and he soon becomes a person of interest when a teenager disappears and a body is discovered in the backyard at Jonas' house.

Although this series is a cozy spinoff of the author's Secrets of Redemption Psychological Thriller series, the books in this series can be read as stand alone books or in sequence just within this series as the author has done an excellent job of giving enough backstory on Charlie and her experiences so the reader doesn't feel as though they have entered the movie halfway through. Within this series, the author has created a cast of multi-dimensional characters that can easily be considered for a multitude of roles in both this and future installments. Much of this particular novel focuses on the introduction of a new character, Rowena/Margaret, that I can foresee could easily become a victim, perpetrator or even ally for Charlie in future stories, however, more information will need to be gained by Charlie for her to consider Rowena as anything other than a suspicious newcomer in the town.

As this story unfolded, I found it riveting that the author was able to create the impression of possible connections between the teenager's disappearance and the murder but then was able to offer different but believable resolutions to both crimes and ultimately created a totally unexpected revelation as to the killer's identity and motive. Quite honestly, the killer wasn't even on my radar until the reveal. I look forward to future installments in this series as I can see many possible storyline directions for the author to take Charlie in.

I received an advance review copy of this book for free from the author at booksirens.com, and am leaving this fair and honest review voluntarily. ( )