The annual Diablo Ball was coming up soon and as the hostess, Archie Monday was busy making sure everything was coming along as well as expected for such a popular and important event. The charitable fundraiser benefited the Humane Society and was originally hosted by Mac Faraday’s late mother, Robin Spenser.

As is sometimes the case, not all goes as smoothly as one would like. Archie found out people were sending in their RSVP’s before the invitations were sent out. When Mac gets curious as to why that’s happening, and starts looking into the unusual situation, he ends up interested in a five-year-old cold case drowning where the victim was never found.

The person who was bringing the mysterious RSVP’s to Mac’s attention was also pointing him to check out witnesses and a suspect in the drowning. During numerous searches around the lake in an attempt to find the truth, a grave was found deep in a stand of evergreens. When another killing takes place, Mac brings David into the mix.

While Mac and his half-brother Police Chief David O’Callaghan looked into the case, David and his fiancée, Chelsea, continued preparing for their wedding. With the two canines, Gnarly and Molly, eager to join the fun, the busy spring season was just getting started.

Open Season for Murder by Lauren Carr is the twelfth Mac Faraday mystery. Carr has also written the Joshua Thornton Mysteries, Lovers in Crime Mysteries, and a new series, A Thorny Rose Mystery.

The prolific mystery author provides hours of pleasure to her readers. Most of the stories are based around West Virginia and southern Pennsylvania mountains.

Open Season for Murder is fast-paced from the beginning and continues the pace to the end. The numerous twists and turns, and unexpected clues, will keep readers turning pages to see what happens next. The author has a way of making the characters come to life and it’s rather easy to choose sides as to who did or did not commit the crime, even if the reader ends up rooting for the wrong person.

In this case, it’s tempting to side with someone up front, but that would be a mistake. Pressing through to the end is worth the time to find out the truth and to enjoy the surprising reveal.

If you are interested in reading any or all of Lauren Carr’s books, they are available on Amazon.com.

A special thank you goes to Lauren Carr and Acorn Books Services for providing us with a complimentary copy of this book.