Nancy Lynn Jarvis shares “I’m a real estate agent who is having so much fun killing people that I’ll probably never sell another house.” Ms. Jarvis was a Santa Cruz, California Realtor for more than twenty years. She owns a real estate company with her husband, just like the main character in her Reagan McHenry Mystery Series.
“The Widow’s Walk League” is the fourth book in this series. Ms. Jarvis started writing mysteries in 2008 when the bottom dropped out of the real estate market. The real estate stories in the book are true according to Ms. Jarvis, they either happened to her or one of her colleagues. The murder mysteries are fictional.
The series is set in the real life city of Santa Cruz, California. In “The Widow’s Walk League” the book begins during the annual Halloween festival on Pacific Avenue. A macabre costumed character resembling the Angel of Death hands out card to people with the date and time of their death. Before the night is over, a cardiac surgeon is murdered at the festival at the approximate time that the Angel of Death foretold.
The surgeon was the husband of a member of the Widow’s Walk League, a group of women who walk together until they find a home with a Widow’s Walk, and then they find a place to eat. Soon other husbands of the league members are found murdered. Is there a serial killer is targeting them? Regan McHenry, the realtor who is helping the new widows sell their homes, starts learning incriminating information.
I really enjoyed the book. Santa Cruz comes alive in the story, you feel like you are there at the festival, at the Warf and walking the streets. Regan McHenry and her husband Tom are quite believable, likable and well-rounded characters. They are the type of people you would want to sell your home. The plot is complex, but I suspected the killer, but not the ending. “The Widow’s Walk League” is everything I expect from a Cozy Mystery, a great puzzle and a fast enjoyable read.
Five stars out of Five.
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