Deadly Disguise by Cheri O'Boyle

"Deadly Disguise" is the fourth installment in the Estela Nogales series by Cherie O’Boyle. Estela is a therapist in the university counseling center and in this story, has to solve the “perfect murder” when an unpopular chemistry teacher, Professor Freuhauf, plunges to his death over a fifth floor railing in the library. Since there were rumors of an active shooter in the library at the same time as the professor’s death, chaos reigns and there is no reliable witness testimony. Add to that the fact that almost everyone on campus had a reason to want this professor dead, and you have a rather complicated murder case. I have mixed feelings about this book. I really like Estela. She is smart and independent and has a very wry sense of humor and a keen sense of observation about human behavior. Plus she is realistic about her own talents. I love her dogs - two border collies. The elder dog, named Scout, is a trained therapy dog and his ability to comfort stressed humans is very clear in the story. The younger dog, Shiner, spends his days on a sheep ranch and is learning to be a herding dog. I also love the fact that Estela is friends with the town detective, Munoz, and there is no messy romance to navigate. That is a refreshing change from the conventions of many cozies. The mystery itself certainly had plenty of suspects, and while Estela and Detective Munoz did a fair amount of detecting and discussion in the course of solving the mystery, I would have liked to have seen a bit more banter and evidence of their friendship. Also, the reveal of the murderer was a bit too rushed for my taste, and I would have liked a little more consequence for the culprit. Estela lives in a development appropriately named Arroyo Loco. Many of the residents there are dysfunctional in one way or another, and I think this is where I have some misgivings about the book. I would have preferred to have at least one person in the development who had a more friendly relationship with Estela. As it stands, she is friendly enough with the residents, but holds them at arm’s length due to their crazy ways. So the element of the “best friend” is missing here. On the other hand, if you prefer a more “edgy” cozy mystery with a little more realistic view of human nature, this could be the series for you. To be fair, I have not read any of the other books in the series, so the elements that I was missing in this could be present in others. While events that had obviously occurred in previous installments were mentioned here, they did not distract from the main plot line and some of the comments made me want to read the other books.