I was privileged to receive an advance reader copy of The Unlikely Murder Club, the first book in the Unlikely Murder Club series by Gina X. Grant. This is one of the best murder mystery cozies which I have read in some time with a delightful cast of characters to whom I could relate right away and a plot with delightful twists and turns.
The main protagonist, Agatha Shadewell, is a career criminal with a conscience and follows what she calls her “criminal code.”
For Agatha, morally right versus right in the eyes of the law are not the same thing. She is a modern-day Robin Hood; quirky, kind, and gutsy with an intense sense of fairness. She helps good, decent people by stealing from the criminals who robbed them and redistributing the proceeds, lost goods, and treasured family heirlooms back to the rightful owners. If she keeps a little back for living expenses, who is to criticize?
After a traumatic experience when she was just five years old, Agatha has abandonment issues. For the last five decades she has learned to rely on herself and whenever she has made an exception to this rule, she has been disappointed, betrayed.
Fresh out of prison and released into the custody of now retired FBI agent Martin Kobbs, the very man who chased her doggedly for years, and finally captured her, Agatha considers staying put and making the town of Unlikely her home for good.
For the first time in her sixty-five years, she has friends who feel like family … she’s respected, admired, and perhaps, even loved.
But Agatha isn’t used to staying in one place for long. Her ankle bracelet keeps her confined to within a three-mile radius of her home, but it is her new-found friends, plus a little dog named Chance, that tug on her heart to stay.
Now the mother of one of her new friends is in trouble … will she run from danger, like she always has, or stay and help?
Gina X. Grant has written a superb book which I highly recommend, and I look forward to reading the next one in the series! You should also check out the prequel for the series, Agatha’s First Murder which you can get if you visit her website and sign up for her newsletter.