Mikki Lincoln knows words. As a freelance editor, she helps writers get their pieces ready for publication. It’s only in her spare time that she snoops around, asking people about murder. But with her town, Lenape Hollow, having its 225th anniversary, there’s not as much time for playing Miss Marple. Especially since they want to put on a play that the town did for their 200th celebration, and it needs a lot of editing help. As someone who grew up in Lenape Hollow, Mikki wants the celebration to be a success, so she reluctantly agrees to volunteer her time to polish the script.

But when some renovations at the historical society reveal a body that had been concealed behind a wall for decades, Mikki finds herself back in the midst of a mystery.

Her work with the play has her studying a lot of town history, so she finds herself uncovering long-held secrets, some of which heal relationships rifts, and others just cause more problems. Mikki tries as hard as she can to write a happy ending to the story, but there is someone else working against her, someone trying to keep their identity as a killer from being exposed.

Clause and Effect is the second book in Kaitlyn Dunnett’s Deadly Edits series. A long-time writer of mysteries (I love her Liss MacCrimmon series, about a Scottish shop owner in Maine), this is actually her sixtieth book in print (congratulations to her!) as well as a genuinely fun read.

Mikki is an independent older woman (in her 70s), but still working and renovating her childhood home and hanging out with her friends. Clause and Effect is a smart, well-written mystery with plenty of shady suspects and red herrings. It’s a cozy for word lovers, and a very enjoyable way to pass the time.

Galleys for Clause and Effect were provided by Kensington Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.