Review

The League of Literary Ladies from Put-In-Bay, Ohio have chosen A Tale of Two Cities as their newest book club selection. Bea Cartwright, and her three friends Chandra, Kate, and Luella selected the book in honor of the town’s upcoming Bastille Day celebration, and some parts of the book seem to be coming to life in their small tourist town. From elderly knitters named Defarge to a visiting rock band whose stage show includes a working guillotine, some of the parallels to events going on in their town are becoming eerie.  Bea was happy to leave the hustle and bustle of New York for her new home, but when an unpopular resident of the town is murdered, Bea feels compelled to investigate the crime. She feels the victim, who didn’t get much respect in life, deserves to get justice in death. So Bea sets out to learn secrets being kept by some of the residents of the town, while trying to keep her own secrets safe.

A Tale of Two Biddies is a great follow-up to the excellent debut in the series, Mayhem at the Orient Express. The setting near Lake Erie is unique and adds something extra to the book. Some details about the town are included, but I didn’t get the same feeling for the location as I did in the first book of the series. The interesting, likeable characters are another highlight of the book. I love the camaraderie between Bea and her fellow members of the League of Literary Ladies. They are a diverse group of friends and it’s great to see how well they all get along and support each other. I also enjoy the chemistry between Bea and bar-owner Levi Kozlov. It seems there could be romance in their future, even though Bea is fighting her feelings, partly because of secrets she is keeping from Levi and her other friends in Put-In-Bay.

The murder investigation kept my interest throughout the book. Bea is an intelligent investigator and I like seeing her get to the truth of the unusual events occurring in the town. Some of what she discovers was expected, but there are a few surprises. The ending is a good one and everything ties in well with the book club’s selection of A Tale of Two Cities.

The book is very accessible to readers who haven’t read the prior book in the series. The plot in this book doesn’t rely on events that took place in the prior book, and information is given to help new readers catch up on the characters. However, even though the backstory of how the women became friends is touched on in this book, the details that play out in the series debut are worth reading about and would add to the enjoyment of this novel.

This book is well-written and clever. Readers who enjoy books by Ellery Adams anyone looking for a book with an interesting plot and an intelligent, strong main character will like the book. This series is my favorite by author Kylie Logan, who also writes the Button Box Mysteries and the Chili Cook-off Mysteries.

Reviewed by Christine