The Primrose Murder Society by Stacy Hackney

Lily's life hasn't exactly been easy lately. Her daughter, Bea, is acting up (understandably) after Lily's husband embezzled millions of dollars and then left them in the lurch. They lost their home (feds took it) and Bea has been kicked out of her private school. Lily has had to take her mother's boyfriend's offer of cleaning out his mother's apartment. At least they have someplace to live, even though Lily still needs a job. 

The Primrose apartments are the most posh in town, but, while Lily is slightly intimidated by the wealth, Bea is mostly obsessed with a murder that happened there almost twenty years ago. A resident dies and leaves behind a will that will give two million dollars to whoever can give information leading to the arrest of the person who killed his granddaughter. Bea, an inveterate Murder She Wrote watcher is all in. Lily is much more hesitant but is willing to go along because this is the only thing bringing Bea joy right now. 

The mystery comes together pretty nicely although the final solution was a bit out there. The two main characters are fairly fleshed out but there is room for growth which will be fun to watch if the series continues. 

Four stars

This book comes out March 3, 2026

ARC kindly provided by William Morrow and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman

This book is ancillary to a series but I didn't feel like I was missing anything by not having read previous books. Mrs. Blossom, Muriel, was an assistant to an investigator, but now she's about to have an investigation of her own. 

Muriel's life has turned upside down a few times recently; her husband died, the family (grandchildren) moved to Japan and left her behind, and she won the lottery. It's the last that allows her to take a fancy vacation in Europe. 

On the way, she meets Allan. He seems attracted to her and, while she's shy to believe it, she is willing to vary her journey plans to stay with him. Unfortunately, the romance doesn't last long and she's back on track for the travel plans she was given. There's a young man (forties), Danny, who is following her. But his story keeps changing as to why. 

Lippman explains that, in the previous books, she was accused of fatphobia based on how she described and treated Muriel. This book is... maybe bettter? She had sensitivity readers but I'm not sure how much she listened to their reviews. There's still a lot of focus on Muriel's frame. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out June 17, 2025

ARC kindly provided by William Morrow and NetGalley

Opinions are my own