In April 1982, Lainee Cohen asked her upstairs neighbor to watch her three-month-old daughter Ivy while Lainee talked to her babies’ father. At the time of the conversation, Lainee also gave her neighbor all of Ivy’s clothes and toys. Later in the evening when her neighbor’s husband went upstairs to check on the young mother, he found she had been murdered.

While police investigated the murder, Janice declared to her husband that she was going to raise the infant as if the baby was her own. The chief inspector made an on-the-spot decision to allow the couple to keep the young girl. Several days later, Janice found out she was pregnant. Ivy was accepted, raised, and educated by Janice and Wayne Sachs just like their own two children.

October, 2005, four months after Ivy Cohen graduated from King’s College in London, she immigrated to Annapolis, Maryland. Ivy was looking for her mother’s killer. She got a job at a book store owned by Dan and Rivka at Olde Victorian Bookstore, a bookstore with four separate floors, and got a room at Irma Riley’s rooming house next door to the bookstore.

While Ivy continued to work at the book store, she also spent her time trying to find her mother’s killer. She wanted to find out which of the four families currently living in Annapolis her father belonged to. Dan and Rivka vowed to help Ivy try to identify which of the families caused her mother’s death. When Scotland Yard found Lainee’s diary, the Sherman’s used their connections to find long hidden clues that lead to the unexpected and shocking truth.

Death Takes a Mistress was written by husband and wife authors Rosemary and Larry Mild, and was the second Dan & Rivka Sherman mystery following Death Goes Postal. The duo also wrote the wonderful Paco and Molly Mysteries.

This novel was well plotted as it led readers through what could have been a confusing number of players in two different countries, over many years. But, the authors carefully brought everything to a smooth, understandable finish.

The characters are well-rounded and emotionally true to the story. For example, the author doesn’t hide the frustration a busy husband and wife can sometimes struggle with no matter how much they love each other. Dan and Rivka are busy with their bookshop, their outside activities, and their home life.

They also took in a young woman who has emotional and family issues as well. The whole time the dialogue stays true to the story line, and that means readers aren’t stumbling around trying to make sense of what they are reading.

The best part of this mystery book is that most readers will need time to figure out who the killer is, and will hopefully enjoy the delightful ride to the reveal.

If you are interested in purchasing this book, it is available at Amazon.com.

A special thank you goes to Magic Island Literary Works for providing us with a complimentary copy of this book.