Michelle Blanchard Ardillo

In a previous post, I reviewed I Only Read Murder by the Canadian Ferguson brothers, and made a not so subtle request for the sequel to read and review – albeit on its very publication date. The Fates (as in NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, lol) smiled upon me, and I’ve just finished Mystery in the Title with a smile on my face.

I rarely get the opportunity to read and review the first in a series and its sequel back to back, but I have to say this was a very pleasurable experience. I was still caught up in the world of Miranda Abbott, has-been TV star, and her ever-present sidekick Personal Assistant Andrew Nguyen, and I found myself dreaming of a vacation at the Duchess Hotel on the shores of Happy Rock, Oregon. What more could you ask for: small-town charm, a local indie bookstore, views of the Pacific Ocean from nearly every window! Well, how about not one, but two murders?

The plot of book 2 centers around a comeback of sorts for Miranda, having been offered (with a contract—-not an audition!) the lead female role in a MOW, a new acronym for me, which is short for the movie of the week, set in and filmed in Happy Rock of all places!

Do you know the expression, “If it’s too good to be true…?” Well, Miranda obviously did not know it, even when Andrew was trying to tell her something didn’t quite smell right. And it did smell every bit as badly as Melvin Jacobsen’s fertilizer store!

If book 1 in the series sounded like a script for Murder, She Wrote, then book 2 is screaming for a Hallmark producer to bring this thing to life.

Even though Miranda’s sixth sense doesn’t kick in until far too late in the storyline, this sequel does move along at a far better pace than book 1. It seems as though the brothers Ferguson have found their stride on this one, and I would imagine book 3 will be even stronger.

Book 3, you ask? Well, I suspect there is a book 3 in the makings. There is still the unresolved relationship and unsigned divorce papers of Miranda and Edgar, owner of the town’s indie bookstore which specializes in murder mysteries. There is the growing connection and fondness Miranda has developed for Happy Rock in general and a few of its residents in particular, Bea and Ned. There is also the tremendous growth we see in the character of Miranda, from being a spoiled brat of a former Hollywood queen to a real person looking to make-up for lost time with the real people in her life.

But, there is one thing in book 2 that stood out to me. Andrew has taken to writing down some of Miranda’s outlandish expressions, things she says that are almost malapropisms, but somehow in Miranda’s quirky way, they seem to come out making sense eventually. What does Andrew plan on doing with these notes he is taking? Is Andrew going to write a book, his memoir perhaps? Is he going to write a screenplay based upon Miranda’s life? Hmmm, I just feel like this is a bit of foreshadowing for the reader.

I enjoyed this book. Is it a page turner? No, not really. There is a lot going on. A few scenes did drag on with lots of scurrying about searching for clues and garnering nothing. I thought about Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles with his three threads and how the first two come up with nothing. The Fergusons have a lot of loose threads near the end of the book before Miranda finally (FINALLY) stitches the whole thing together. And ironically, it all comes down to a seamstress’s tool!

Thank you, NetGalley and Harlequin, for both books! I look forward to seeing where we go with Miranda in the future!