One night, after dropping her nephews at their home, Abby hears shots and is certain the man she had just seen limping through the intersection is dead, yet when the police come to investigate, no body, no blood, no evidence of a shooting can be found. Abby then sees the man scratching Hendrix’s truck— a crime she is accused of; many of the town’s merchants have seen the man in town recently, but no one recognizes him. A few days later, the man, who is identified as Lou Hobbs, is found dead behind the pharmacy. 

Even though Abby has no motive to get involved in his murder other than to convince police that she saw Hobbs get shot a few nights prior – though even Abby has to admit he wasn’t murdered that first night.  Still, Abby can’t seem to help herself and begins asking questions about town and learns that high school grudges can be carried long into adulthood and may even turn into motives for murder.  

Because Abby has agreed to be her nephews’ assistant basketball coach, she decides she needs more help in Divinity (or rather her cousin and assistant Karen insists). Karen hires Liberty Parker, also a returnee to Paradise. Liberty is a bit odd and Abby doesn’t immediately connect with her, having reservations about her, and these feelings are never really resolved, as Liberty continues to work at the shop, adding very little to the current story.  She is able to make some high school connections, connections that Abby should have been able to make since she went to high school in Paradise. 

Even if she were several years older than the key players, in such a small town, it would be logical that someone would seem familiar to Abby, considering, also, that she is being pursued by Marshall, a local who never left the area.  Abby also drags Max along on her outings with very little purpose (he never has to keep her from walking into danger, or has to get help, etc.).   

Abby’s obsession with proving she did see someone shot is hard to believe.  More plausible is the animosity between the two coaches, which could often be blamed for the vehicle tailing Abby or trying to run her off the road.  The setting is charming, and there are some candy making tips, including some recipes that can be reproduced at home, but in this outing, the characters and plot never quite seem to reach hard ball stage.                             

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry