where there's a will

Mikki Lincoln is back, just living her life as a freelance book editor and occasionally getting accosted in the grocery store parking lot by author superfans who accuse her of missing two spelling errors in the latest book. Even though she tries to explain that she was not responsible for the book’s final proofreading, the superfan won’t leave her alone about it.

And then there’s the letter from the lawyer. Mikki is informed that she has inherited some property from a friend of her mother’s. She only visited Tessa once with her mother, but she still remembers the big hours where the family would take in boarders in the summer. Living in the shadow of the Catskill Mountains, lots of families of that time would take in boarders during the summer.

But that visit had been decades ago. Mikki is surprised that Tessa thought to bequeath her the family estate, but then she added an even more puzzling mandate. Mikki has 30 days to find and edit any journals she finds in the house, or she will forfeit the inheritance. Tessa’s attorney, Leland Featherstone, takes her out to the house to show her around, but Mikki feels like he is ducking some of her questions. But that’s okay—her best friend is a retired librarian, and Darlene knows her way around research.

The first thing Mikki and Darlene learn about is the murder. Rosanna, Tessa’s stepmother, had been murdered in the house 50 years ago. No one was ever arrested. Many were questioned, including a young couple who were living in an apartment over the barn at that time, the last boarders of the season. The police could find no evidence that they had done it though, so they decided it had been a burglary gone wrong. But Mikki wondered if the journals Tessa wanted her to find would have more definitive answers.

Mikki’s first attempt at locating journals in the house nets her nothing. A more thorough search does the same. When she brings her cousin Luke and his girlfriend Ellen, a police officer, they search not only the main house but also the outbuildings. That’s when they find out that someone has been using the barn. There are lockable storage units that have been built in the last few decades. Since Tessa and her sister haven’t been to the house in 50 years, clearly someone else has been up to something.

But still, no journals.

The clock is ticking for Mikki. She has a limited amount of time to find and edit the journals (and there could be a dozen of them, for all she knows), and she just keeps hitting road blocks. The more she learns about the sisters, the more questions she has. And then, she finds the journals, but they actually raise more questions than they answer. As the days go by, will Mikki be able to edit the journals and post them online in time, or will she have to forfeit her inheritance, after all the work she’s put in? And once the barn goes up in flames, will Mikki forfeit not just the property, but also her life?

Author Kaitlyn Dunnett is back with another Deadly Edits mystery in Murder, She Edited. Retired teacher and freelance editor Mikki Lincoln has a knack for getting herself in trouble, but she also has a bunch of friends who help her get back out of it. And, of course, her cat, Calpurnia, who will be there with a comforting paw or just a friendly reminder that it’s time to feed the cat.

I really enjoy these books. Editor Mikki has a way of adding some fun to grammar while solving crimes with her friends. One thing I especially appreciated about this novel is the main murder they were investigating was a cold case. Anyone who is sensitive to even the mild violence of a cozy novel will find this one refreshing for that reason. Also, did I mention that there’s a cat?

Egalleys for Murder, She Edited were provided by Kensington Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.