“Curiouser and curiouser.” When I read Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli’s first Little Library Mystery, I wished I had paid more attention to Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking-Glass. Although the book stands on its own as a mystery, the reader is thrust into a topsy-turvy world with quotes from Lewis Carroll. The wordplay-filled mystery would certainly mean more to readers who remembered or loved Carroll’s books.

Jenny Weston returns home to Bear Falls, Michigan to lick her wounds after her divorce. But, even though her mother is there with open arms, the town itself is full of people who remember Jenny and her first love. Jenny may have unhappy memories, but the deliberate destruction of the little library her father built before his tragic death, is hard on both Jenny and her mother, Dora. When it’s followed quickly by a murder, and Dora’s neighbor, Zoe Zola, a Little Person, is the main suspect, Bear Falls truly seems to be an unwelcoming place.

Destruction of a little library, multiple murders, a dog that disappears, houses ransacked. The police chief doesn’t know what to do except to focus his attention on Zoe. She’s an author; she’s only lived there a year, and she has a fairy garden. Jenny finds her odd with her fascination with Alice in Wonderland, fairies and fairy tales, but she never suspects her of murder. It isn’t long before Jenny finds herself liking her mother’s unusual neighbor. Along with an ex-cop turned carpenter, Jenny and Zoe set out to find the real killer, and the reason behind the deaths, before Zoe ends up in prison.

The stories and tragic lives in A Most Curious Murder are as convoluted as a Lewis Carroll story. It’s an intricately plotted mystery. The conversations between Jenny and Zoe are offbeat, sometimes snarky, sometimes whimsical. But, they add to the complex, twisted storyline.

Complex, twisted, whimsical. Buzzer’s A Most Curious Murder grows curiouser and curiouser as it progresses. It’s an enjoyable story. But, for those who love Alice in Wonderland, it promises to be a treat.

Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli’s website is www.elizabethbuzzelli.com

A Most Curious Murder by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli. Crooked Lane. 2016. ISBN 9781629536064 (hardcover), 336p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of the book, hoping I would review it.