Some Like it Lethalby Nancy Martin
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780451211743
Series: Blackbird Sisters #3
Publication Date: April 6, 2004
Pages: 310
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Signet Mystery
When the husband of a wealthy dog food heiress is found bludgeoned to death at an exclusive hunt club, Nora Blackbird is as surprised as anyone. Worse still, the evidence points toward a devious blackmail scheme-with Nora’s sister, Emma, as the main suspect. Investigating with the help of friend and foe alike, Nora uncovers the secrets of some of Philadelphia’s high-and-mightiest-and attracts the unwanted attentions of the real killer…
Nothing like a spot of blackmail amongst the upper classes. It’s all fun and profit until someone is murdered, and Nora’s youngest sister is a suspect because she was found passed-out drunk next to the body.
Martin continues to address the themes like addiction and abuse that most cozy mysteries wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pen, and she continues to do it in a way that lends the gravitas these issues demand, while keeping the overall read cozy. She also explores the hypocrisy of class double-standards, as Nora and Michael hash their way through why some illegal activity (mob crime) is considered worse that others (crimes of the upper crust), and how that criteria can suddenly change when it becomes convenient. She offers no answers, just plenty to chew on for those that feel philosophical.
The plotting was good; I felt sure I knew who the murderer was – or, who I wanted the murderer to be, but I was wrong. The murderer was craftily unexpected and, in the end, tragic, with Martin once again playing with reader expectations by questioning the meaning of justice.