Mayor Jim Ripley approaches Brenna and asks her to try and convince Nate to sell some of his lakefront property for the good of the town, something Brenna can’t imagine Nate ever doing.  After a public battle begins and a public argument occurs, Brenna fishes a trunk containing the mayor's body out of the lake and Nate becomes the number one suspect, even ahead of the mayor’s social climbing wife. 

Though Brenna knows very little about Nate’s past and, as she keeps telling herself and her friends, is just his tenant, though she thinks a stronger attraction is brewing, she is adamant about his innocence. Even though she’s the new kid in town, Brenna sets about proving who else in this close-knit town, with residents whose relatives date back generations, might have wanted the obnoxious mayor dead.

 Brenna is a spunky heroine who doesn’t know her limitations even as she pulls an old trunk loaded with a dead body (even one buoyed by the water) out of the lake. Eventually she tells Nate of the reasons she moved to Morse Point, reasons that make her willingness to take Nate’s part and to help search for the real killer, even more admirable. 

Brenna is self reliant and though she hasn’t lived in a small town very long is savvy enough to realize how news travels, who the gossips are and who she can count on. The mystery is well-plotted; the murderer may be easy to guess, even though there aren’t a lot of clues that point in the right direction. The relationship between Brenna and Nate is interesting and one with plenty of room for development, though it looks as there may be complications before too long.  Decoupage tips at the top of each chapter, and hints woven throughout the text make Stuck on Murder even more appealing for crafters.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry