I read cozy and historical mysteries, a bit of Paranormal/UF, and to mix it up, I read science and gardening books on occasion.
My first Christmas mystery of the season, and it's from one of my favorite series. It was pretty good.
My personal observation about long-lasting series is that authors have a tendency to go bigger and bigger with each book. Usually it's the plots that try to outdo each other, but sometimes, as in this case, it's a certain theme, or themes. The Sarah Booth Delaney series has a very strong underlying theme centered on the power of love, family and friendship, and these themes have become more ... urgent? as the series has progressed.
I'm not complaining - I love this series - but while I enjoyed the book thoroughly as I was reading it, it felt a tiny bit saccharide afterwards.
Oh, and in this one the plot was definitely out there. And way too overly labyrinthine. I'm not sure it really worked, to be honest.
But I love the characters whole heartedly, and Zinnia Mississippi comes alive. It might have been a 3.5 star read, but I've been quietly stewing for years about the Coleman story line, and it's finally come good in this book - that bumped it 1/2 star. Overall, a solid read, that went by fast.