[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Meg is helping her grandmother who is hosting a Presumed Innocent conference at the Caerphilly Inn. The emphasis of the conference is on overturning wrongful convictions. They have lawyers and law enforcement and exonerees speaking. And troublemakers causing issues.
Godfrey Norton – “the Gadfly” – is the biggest troublemaker. He’s openly scornful about the conference aims, and hostile toward the exonerees and those who have helped them secure freedom. But he crosses the line with a false accusation and his own acts of animal cruelty and is kicked out of both the conference and the Inn.
But Godfrey is going to cause one last bit of trouble when his dead body is found behind Meg’s house.
Review
What a fun mystery! The setting – a conference about exonerees and pursing justice for the wrongfully incarcerated – was fascinating. It brought interesting characters to Caerphilly and placed most of the action at the Inn which was a nice shift in setting. The usual holiday chaos at Meg’s house was toned down due to an impending baby delivery for Meg’s SIL. And I enjoyed that change too.
The victim was truly awful, but the setting allowed the LEOs to do their work at a conference all about law enforcement and sound investigation. The twins and their best friend even got to help with case which was a great part of the story. I pegged the killer early on but loved watching all of the pieces come together in the end.
This is book 36 in this long-running series. Book 37, For Duck’s Sake, will release in August of 2025.
Rating: ♥♥♥♥*
*♥♥♥♥ = Great! Might re-read.