Another Cozy Mystery that Won't Tax Your Brain

The Murder Pit - Jeff Shelby

Daisy Savage has her hands full: besides keeping husband number two, Jake, satisfied; the full-time homeschooling Mom to three of the blended-family kids, she’s also busy with keeping the family’s hundred-year-old house from collapsing into itself. When exploring a frozen pipe turns up a body hidden in a coal chute they didn't even know they had, Daisy finds herself “forced” to investigate on her own. Because she dated the victim, albeit briefly, between husbands, the whole town of Moose River, Minnesota, is convinced she offed poor Olaf Stunderson.

That includes Olaf’s sister, Olga, and his ex-wife Helen; or so it seems. Whether the Susan Powter lookalike cop has cleared her is questionable. But all this suspicion and enmity mean that Daisy’s comfy life – and worse, the lives of her kids – is a mess, so she’s gonna do what she’s gotta do: find the killer. Naturally, the killer will find her first…

The Murder Pit is the first of several “Moose River Mystery” installments written by Jeff Shelby. I read it for free, since Amazon (and Barnes and Noble and Google) are giving it away. I got pretty much what I paid for. Oh, the characters are all right, I suppose (though a bit on the saccharine side), but Shelby is apparently on a mission to tell everyone that homeschooling is the greatest thing since sliced bread (note to Shelby: some homeschooling moms ARE complete dumbasses). OK, if that’s his bag – there are lots of causes more reprehensible and plenty of books that proselytize a lot more openly. Where The Murder Pit goes south is in poor plotting and logical failings.

We all know that the villain must be introduced somewhere in the plot. Shelby only provides one possibility beyond the two obvious red herrings, so the real killer’s identity is pretty obvious from the get-go. Second, the body was found in a hidden location the home’s owners didn't even know existed (a rather unlikely scenario, IYAM) – so how did some random murderer know it was there? And why didn't the brilliant Daisy realize this until page 286 of a 325-page book? And then we see Jake mortaring up a concrete block wall in the dead of winter – Minnesota winter, with temps below zero F (a definite no-no). And the cop peeling a strip of siding off the house? it made me wonder if Shelby even knows what siding is. 

Cozy mysteries aren't exactly known for their depth, but The Murder Pit is rather shallower than most of the genre.