Statue of Limitations by Kate Collins

I am working my way through hitting my targets for this month’s releases and might actually reach it! There is a plan in the works for putting up that list with my end of the month post (for the next month, obviously) but I feel like that might jinx the situation and derail it. As it is, I am not getting to my books from the library and will not have as much time as I had this month going forward, so it remains to be seen.

This book is available for request till the 31st of January on NetGalley

This is a fun first book to a new cozy mystery series. It is always refreshing to encounter a first book that has you looking forward to reading more about the people and what new problems they may get into. My favourite character, who makes a tiny appearance, would be Oscar, the racoon. I hope to see more of him in the next ones.

There is this bias that I start with whenever I pick up something in this genre, I need to connect/like the narrative voice. The characters should not be too descriptive when in the first person, for instance, since most reasonable people would not recollect such details when in high-pressure situations. That said, I still want the details excitingly and fluently, so it makes for some hits amongst more misses. Especially since they are usually quick reads(as was this), I can devour more of them as compared to other genres. Our leading lady is Athena, who is back home after her marriage falls apart. She has moved back into the loving arms of her big Greek family. I used the term Greek in the description because it forms a considerable chunk of the storyline. The family’s background, as well as their belonging to the Greek Merchants Association, plays a significant role. The way she deals with the feeling of wanting to versus actually belonging gave the character some depth.

Athena has a son, and although I felt like she trusted too quickly, was a decent lead to root for. She has an anonymous blog and I, for one, wanted more than the few snippets we were given because they seemed great! The mystery itself was pretty straightforward, but the community feel and the fact that the negative shaded current boyfriend had more shades to him made him very realistic. I will definitely read more books by this author and in this series if and when I get the chance.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience and my prior encounters with books of this genre.

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