No Small Murder

Mini-Meadows Mystery, #1

by

Lena Gregory

A charming new series featuring a fun tiny home community and its delightful residents!

No Small Murder is the debut novel of author Lena Gregory's Mini-Meadows Mystery series and will surely delight cozy mystery readers with its tiny home theme. The main character, Emma Wells, has her own business assisting people in downsizing their possessions and easing their transition to smaller living spaces, many of whom become her neighbors in the tiny house community of Mini-Meadows. But when one of her clients arrives at their new home deceased and wrapped up with the furniture, Emma investigates to nab the killer before the murder is pinned on two innocent friends. With de-cluttering and downsizing being such trending topics, I was absolutely drawn to the premise and the plot. 

Emma is the likable and engaging heroine of this fun and compelling story. I liked that after she parted ways with her autocratic father, she made a success of her business, standing steadily on her own two feet. There are already more than enough barely-getting-by amateur sleuths featured in cozy series, so having one doing well, although still building her business, was refreshing. She has a fun group of "ride or die" gal pals, all of whom live and work within the tiny home community. Dialing up the action and entertainment is the sudden arrival of her much-loved and missed Granny Rose, who has come to move in with Emma in her less than 500 square feet of space. They all work together, supporting one another to clear the names of friends caught up in the murder mystery. 

The murder occurred early in the story, and the plot soon took some great twists and turns. There was little waiting for the action to take off. The murder victim was suitably unpleasant, and how the body was disposed of was surprising. There is quite a long list of people who had something against the victim, so there were many viable suspects to consider. I didn't know who the killer was until the reveal. 

This is the first book I've read by this author, and it was quite the page-turner. I got so involved in this story that distractions were no problem to ignore or put on hold for later. I recommend NO SMALL MURDER to cozy mystery readers looking for a charming new series featuring a fun tiny home community with a delightful group of residents. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.