Review: A Plague Among Us by Deb Pines

A Plague Among Us

by Deb Pines

Publisher: 52Novels

Pages: 290

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  When Al Martin, the editor of a satiric newspaper in Chautauqua, N.Y., reportedly dies of COVID-19, the local consensus is: good riddance.

A sister suspects foul play. She wonders why Al was cremated in a hurry.

The police stay out of it.

So it takes reporter and relentless snoop Mimi Goldman to try to find which of Al's haters— including an estranged wife, three bitter siblings, a secretive caregiver, old enemies and the many targets of Al's poison-pen sarcasm—might be a ruthless killer.

Kritters Thoughts:  Al Martin is one of our siblings and has recently passed away and his has been added to the many who died due to complications from COVID-19.  His sister has come to town and she swears that he didn't die from COVID and insists that his death be investigated, so she asks the infamous newspaper ladies who in this 8th book in the series have a reputation for solving all sorts of crimes.  

While this is the 8th in a series, I was able to jump in here and only miss a few of the details that probably were revealed in pervious books.  Each crime is self contained in each book and there is minimal character development of the main characters in town from book to book.  After reading this book, I am intrigued to go back to the beginning and read them all, but don't be discouraged if this plot seems intriguing to you. 

Other than one non fiction, this was my first read to incorrupt COVID and it was a little eery as i feel as though we are still in the thick of it in the fall of 2021.  Reading this book with a little more knowledge of the future of the disease and our country's reaction to it was weird and interesting. 

While I enjoyed the mystery, I wish I had known a bit more about Al Martin before he died.  As I did jump into this series very mid stream, I wonder if Al was in previous books and if I had known more about him if I had read them before this one.  

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2021 Challenge: 119 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Partner in Crime Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.