Judy Alter’s recently released No Neighborhood for Old Women is the second installment in her cozy-mystery series about realtor Kelly O’Connell. In this book, Kelly sees a pattern when old women in the neighborhood start dying off. And, when the police determine that the deaths are really homicides, Kelly is convinced that there’s a serial killer on the loose.
Picking up where Skeleton in a Dead Space left off, Kelly’s romance with policeman Mike Shandy is heating up. In fact, Kelly’s pretty sure that she’s falling in love and hopes that Mike feels the same. It’s also time for one of those difficult decisions in life—should she move her mother closer so that she can keep a closer eye on her or keep her distance?
The most nagging problem in realtor/renovator Kelly O’Connell’s life, however, is what’s happening to the older women in her neighborhood. Two recently died and, in Kelly’s mind, that’s suspicious. As her relationship with Mike blossoms, he urges her to stay out of police business. But, as far as Kelly is concerned, the police just aren’t making progress fast enough because if there is a killer on the loose, the housing market in her neighborhood will die also.
The good news is that Kelly’s mother has decided to move into a home she’s renovating and Mike wants to move in with Kelly. What could dampen the mood? Another killing. Worse, just when Kelly thinks she’s got the killer in her sights, she realizes that her mother does also—he’s her mom’s new boyfriend. There’s nothing left for Kelly to do but solve the murders—despite the fact that her amateur sleuthing might tear apart her love affair with Mike.
While the plot moves somewhat slowly at times, with dips in the level of suspense, the novel is carried based on the reader’s relationship with Kelly. That relationship makes the reader want to know how Kelly’s life will turn out. From her love affair with Mike to moving her mother into what has become a dangerous neighborhood for old women to solving the serial killings, the reader is rooting for Kelly to win.
No Neighborhood for Old Women may not be a suspense-filled whodunnit, but it does give us a puzzle to solve along with a character who must do what so many single moms must do today—balance life’s priorities.
Learn more about Judy Alter on here website at judyalter.com
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