me_alley 's review for:

Murder Runs in the Family by Tamara Berry

3.5

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Amber Winslow has never met her grandmother, because she is- for some reason- secretly estranged from her mom.   But Amber recently lost her career as an unlicensed (yet) private investigator and broke up with her boyfriend Bones.  As a partner, Bones took credit for all of Amber’s ideas and called her a secretary.  

So Amber heads to Arizona to a luxury retirement community to meet Jade McCallum, her grandmother and a successful true crime podcaster.   Soon a man is dead and Jade is charged with the crime.  Amber has to figure out who the murderer is before Jade is officially charged and also to find the deceased’s family heirloom, a 3 million dollar diamond. 

This was a confusing and slow start for me, and I almost put it down several times.  It seemed like it started in the middle of the character development, I had to check and make sure this wasn’t a part of a series that I didn’t read the first books.  It is a standalone- but I would love to see more from Amber and Jade.  The characterization and the story building came kind of slow for me.   But I really loved the last 25% of the book for the plot and the redemption of the characters.  

First 50% - 2 stars
50-75% - 3 stars
75-100% - 5 stars

There are some great quirky side characters, Tatiana the tortoise, a nice arc for Bones the ex and Amber’s mom.  

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC.  Book to be published 4/29/25.