Book Review: The Sleuth’s Miscalculation

Nancy Daley has this life thing down. She works as a librarian, everyone knows she’s someone they can turn to in times of trouble and she is an unofficial consultant for the sheriff department. The sheriff who happens to be her mom. She is an independent woman who is doing fine on her own and appears perfectly content to live out her days just as she is. And then she gets paired up with the new deputy, Carter Malone for a mystery.

This is a fun little book. It’s first of all a mystery, it reminded more of an old Murder She Wrote in tone than Nancy Drew. There is a touch of romance, but that is secondary. Nancy and Carter just work together so well and nothing felt rushed about them. I really appreciate when the author has a strong independent woman character, who she doesn’t sacrifice her humanity to make a point of “See! Look how tough she is!”. Nancy is very human, and I mean that completely as a compliment.

I never figure these things out early, I’m a lazy mystery reader. But I found myself trying to figure out whodunnit quite early on, (and…I actually guessed! Yes, I was proud of myself). The cast of characters is quirky, without being flat, and the groundwork is clearly laid for future stories while being a fulfilling story in and of itself.

Note: I received this book as an advance pre-reader copy.