Murder by Death

I actually really like this series.  Or at least, I did.  My enthusiasm has waned although I'd still call them well-written, well-plotted stories.

Dae is the mayor of Duck, North Carolina and has a gift for finding what is lost.  The last two books, though, her talent has grown to stretch the boundaries of "lost".  In this book, she's sharing her body with a spirit that needs her body found and reunited with her lover (also long dead).  I like the paranormal aspect - it's usually right up my ally - but this felt like a stretch for the characters and the setting the authors originally developed.  I feel like they decided to veer completely off in a new direction mid-series.

Another good mystery though - a long ago cold case surfaces after Dae accidentally finds the body of a man missing over 40 years.  Lots of suspects and well-laid clues that allow the reader to figure it out without the authors having to telegraph it.

There's one more book in this series, but it looks like the authors self-published it, so I'm not going to feel like I'm missing out by not picking it up.  Someday, perhaps, I'll be curious enough about the last story to read it, but for now, I'm happy stopping where I'm at.  I'll keep these books on the shelves, though, as I can definitely see myself reading them again some day.