Morning Cup of Murder by Vanessa Gray Bartal

I desperately needed a break from reading Anna Karenina so I downloaded    Morning Cup of Murder by Vanessa Gray Bartal to my Kindle.

This is what would be termed a cozy mystery.  The main character is Lacy Steele, a 25 year old writer who is back home living with her grandma after a failed relationship.  Life isn’t perfect but she loves her Grandma and is working out what to do next in her life when there is a murder in town and her Grandmother is inexplicably arrested for the murder.  

A lot of the story is a formula; geeky high schooler returns to home town a beauty and runs into the popular jock who is now the good cop in town and at first they don’t get along etc.  but the characters are believable; the mystery itself is a good one and the ending is a surprise.   Along with the good cop there is a new single pastor in town.  He adds and interesting faith element to the story.  I would not immediately label this Christian fiction but grace and mercy are definitely themes in the story.

I enjoyed this.  It was easy to read and only cost .98 cents for my Kindle.  It’s the first of a series so I’ve also downloaded the second one.  If you’re looking for an easy and entertaining read I would recommend this book.