If you’re looking for an introspective, mature amateur sleuth, you can’t go wrong with Leslie Budewitz’ Spice Shop Mysteries. Pepper Reece, Mistress of Spice at Pike Place Market’s Spice Shop in Seattle, might disagree with me. In the fifth book in the series, The Solace of Bay Leaves, she still struggles with her own insecurities. Kudos to a woman in her forties who is still trying to improve in her relationships with others, and her knowledge of herself.

Pepper and the fisherman she’s dating, Nate Stewart, are on a double date with Pepper’s best friend, Kristen, and Kristen’s husband when the two women receive an identical text. The police are at the houseboat of a friend, widow Laurel Halloran, and the FBI will be there soon. Three years earlier, Laurel’s husband, Patrick, was shot and killed in their house. It’s still an ongoing investigation. Patrick was a Assistant U.S. Attorney, and his murder might be linked to his work. But, the police were at a dead end. Now, there’s been another shooting with the same gun in the same neighborhood.

Pepper and Kristen both know the latest victim. They went to school with Maddie Petrosian, who is in the hospital in a coma. She’s a developer who was caught in the corner grocery that was on her list of projects. Why did a killer wait three years to shoot another victim?

Even homicide detective Michael Tracy knows Pepper well enough after a year of cases to know she’ll be asking questions. In fact, Laurel takes her to the old neighborhood, introduces her to people, and expects her to find answers. Pepper’s willing to pry into old secrets, but at the same time, she feels guilty. She’s always thought Maddie had everything in life, a perfect husband, two children, a successful career, everything that divorced Pepper does not. Now Maddie’s in the hospital fighting for her life.

There’s so much that could be said about this well-developed book. First of all, the Pike Place Market setting is always fascinating, and the tidbits about spices are fun. But, it’s the characters and relationships that will bring readers back. They’re believable characters dealing with life’s problems. And, despite her feelings, Pepper is aware that “First-world problems like failed marriages and lost jobs may feel like the darkest depths when you’re plunging into them, but they won’t kill you.”

It’s Pepper’s thoughtful comments and attitude that attract me to her as a character. Even when she does something stupid, she’s mindful that mystery readers call that TSTL, too stupid to live. When she’s followed one night, she thinks, “I’d already been too stupid to live once this week. I was not going to be TSTL a second time.”

While there are often comments about the victims in cozy mysteries, Budewitz takes this series to a little darker place, dives deeper into feelings. In notes at the end of the book, she tells of the case that inspired the book. She wanted to highlight “the impact of murder on the family and on the wider circle that surrounds each of us.”

Kudos to Pepper Reece for her ongoing introspection. Kudos to Leslie Budewitz for an intriguing amateur sleuth and a fascinating mystery.

Leslie Budewitz’ website is http://www.lesliebudewitz.com/

The Solace of Bay Leaves by Leslie Budewitz. Seventh Street Books, 2020. ISBN 9781645060178 (paperback), 248p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a .pdf to review for a journal.