A car accident places Det. RJ Franklin on administrative leave from the St. Joseph, IN, Police Department, but he is called back to duty when the choir director of the First Baptist Church, where RJ is a parishioner, dies in a house fire that appears to be arson. No one knows the town's African American community as well as RJ, and his godmother, Mama B, is tuned into the local gossip. RJ and his partner soon discover the victim, hiding under a false name, had been a highly paid accountant in Cleveland. The investigation involving the church and missing money and the owner of two beauty salons becomes a complicated mess, and someone is breaking into places associated with the dead man. It's Mama B's neighborhood knowledge that will bring this case home.
VERDICT In this series launch, the author of the Agatha Award-nominated "Mystery Bookshop" series (The Plot Is Murder) combines the best qualities of a cozy with a police procedural and imbues spirited protagonists with old-fashioned values, adding appeal, wisdom, and humor to this engaging mystery with a strong sense of place. Soul food recipes included.
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