Unholy Lies by Sandra Bretting

The small town of Enterprise is like most small towns in Texas. Unfortunately, a beautiful young talented piano player and teacher, Becca Cooper, is murdered. The immediate suspects are: the preacher, the preacher’s wife, and the preacher’s assistant. Possible suspects include the estranged ex-husband and the new guy (Bernie) who is also from Oklahoma, and anyone else at the church. Could the ex-husband and the new guy be the same person? You’ll have to read it to see who and why. We learn about the community in Enterprise, Becca Cooper, Kelsey Garrett, the newly graduated news reporter, and a few others. The two most entertaining characters were Bernie and LilliFay. I liked the characters. They have flaws, but who does not? This book just drew me in from the prologue. I enjoyed finding out all about Enterprise, the new-ish reporter and Ms. Becca Cooper. The citizens have their secrets or so they think they are secrets. I felt the entire subject matter was done in good taste. This easily could have been a more graphic and grittier novel which I am happy it was not. It is not a cozy mystery but rather more of a suspense novel. We want to know who did it and why. I thought the pace was about on tempo. Any slower and I might have lost interest, any faster and I may have missed each person’s motive or reason for their dislike of Ms Cooper. I hope Ms Bretting writes more novels in this not so cozy mystery/suspense genre. I look forward to reading them. I was provided a copy of the book by the publisher through the Review Crew. These are my own thoughts. I am not required to post a positive review. (If you would like the opportunity to receive free books and write reviews for us, join the Cozy Mystery Review Crew and/or The Review Crew.)