The Cantaloupe Thief by Deb Richardson-Moore

★★★★★
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Too many people are staying silent about a ten-year-old murder case--it's time for reporter Branigan Powers to investigate.

Branigan Powers knows a good story when she sees one--and the ten-year-old cold case of wealthy Alberta Grambling Resnick's murder definitely makes the cut. Resnick was stabbed in her home after she let it slip that she was planning to change her will. There are plenty of suspects in the death of the matriarch of the town's founding family, but the killer has never been caught.

Now Branigan must do some serious digging to get her story. She knows the town's homeless community might have seen something; she also knows that the local cops wouldn't have thought of questioning these often invisible people. There's a big problem, though; as Branigan starts digging, the homeless start dying. When her twin brother, a long-time addict, gets involved, the consequences of her investigation may hit a little too close to home.

Set in the fictional small town of Grambling, Georgia, The Cantaloupe Thief is the first in a new mystery series by Deb Richardson-Moore. The author is herself a former journalist and works extensively with the homeless, lending weight to the portrayal of a believable and engaging whodunit.

The first Branigan Powers mystery, The Cantaloupe Thief offers a compelling mystery that kept me hooked from beginning to end. The premise is intriguing, the discoveries and revelations steadily paced, and the characters and setting well established. And having previously worked with members of the homeless population, I appreciated Richardson-Moore’s ability to realistically incorporate this aspect into her story. All in all, The Cantaloupe Thief is an interesting and delight read with plenty of unexpected twists, and I recommend it to fans of mystery.

Thanks to Kregel Publications, I received a copy of The Cantaloupe Thief and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.