Hello everyone! I am here to introduce you to a historical fiction book set in Santa Fe during the 1920’s.
Book Blurb:
Former New York darling turned amateur sleuth Madeline Vaughn-Alwin is once again thrown into a colourful yet deadly web of secrets, lies and soirees to die for!
It’s the week of Fiesta in Santa Fe and Maddie is looking forward to enjoying the celebrations. But as ‘Old Man Gloom’ Zozobra goes up in flames, so too do Maddie’s hopes for a carefree life . . . Human remains are found in the dying embers of Zozobra, and then Maddie and her dashing beau Dr David Cole find a body washed up in the arroyo at the edge of town.
Soon identified as Ricardo Montoya, a wealthy businessman and head of one of the most affluent families in Santa Fe . . . the plot starts to thicken. While his beautiful wife Catalina and her complicated children seem less than heartbroken at his untimely demise, and with many disgruntled locals crawling out of the woodwork, Maddie is surrounded by suspects.
With the celebrations of Fiesta continuing around them, Maddie and her ‘Detection Posse’ get busy infiltrating the best parties and hobnobbing with old and new faces – but can they bring the murderer to justice before they strike again?
My Review:
The first few pages immediately grabbed my attention! It starts in the meat of the drama and then takes us back in time. I loveeee when stories start out like this. I also love the settings of the 1920’s so that was definitely an added bonus for me.
This is the third book of the series, and I have not read the first two. This made it a little hard to catch on to who is who and get invested in the characters, which I know that if I read the first two books I would be even more in love with the characters. So my word of advice is to read the first two!
I enjoyed the way that Amanda Allen was able to create a sense of place throughout the book. The way that everyone intertwines and interacts with each other was phenomenal. It felt like a small town, with some outliers, a lot of gossip, and some new kids in town.
The focus on the main event in the town was also very fun to follow along with and see the characters build up to it, as the audience is also building up to what they know is going to happen at this event!
Author Bio:
Amanda wrote her first romance at the age of sixteen–a vast historical epic starring all her friends as the characters, written secretly during algebra class (and her parents wondered why math was not her strongest subject…)
She’s never since used algebra, but her books have been nominated for many awards, including the RITA Award, the Romantic Times BOOKReviews Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Booksellers Best, the National Readers Choice Award, and the Holt Medallion. She lives in Santa Fe with two rescue dogs, a wonderful husband, and a very and far too many books and royal memorabilia collections.
When not writing or reading, she loves taking dance classes, collecting cheesy travel souvenirs, and watching the Food Network–even though she doesn’t cook.
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Read It and Weep with MGD 