Book & Audio Review: Crime & Punctuation by Kaitlyn Dunnett

Crime & Punctuation
Author: Kaitlyn Dunnett
Narrator: Margaret Strom
Series: Deadly Edits (Book 1)
Publication: Kensington Cozies; Reprint edition (May 29, 2018); Tantor Audio (July 10, 2018)
Length: 213 p.; 8 hours and 48 minutes

Description: After splurging to buy her childhood home in the Catskills, recently widowed Mikki Lincoln emerges from retirement as a freelance editor. With her ability to spot details that others fail to see, it's not long before Mikki earns clients - and realizes that the village of Lenape Hollow isn't the thriving tourist destination it was decades ago. Not with a murderer on the loose....

When perky novice writer Tiffany Scott knocks at her door holding a towering manuscript, Mikki expects another debut novel plagued by typos and sloppy prose. Instead, she finds a murder mystery ripped from the headlines of Lenape Hollow's not-too-distant past. The opening scene is a graphic page-turner, but it sends a real chill down Mikki's spine after the young author turns up dead just like the victim in her story....

Mikki refuses to believe that Tiffany's death was accidental, and suspicions of foul play solidify as she uncovers a strange inconsistency in the manuscript and a possible motive in the notes. As she gets closer to cracking the case, only one person takes Mikki's investigation seriously - the cunning killer who will do anything to make this chapter of her life come to a very abrupt ending....

My Thoughts: Recently widowed Mikki London has moved back to her hometown in the Catskills and is renovating the family home. She had spent almost all of her married life in Maine and had lost track of all of her childhood friends.

After a career as a Language Arts teacher, Mikki has set herself up as a freelance editor to help pay for the renovations and supplement her retirement income. Since she got most of her clients from online referrals, she was surprised to find Tiffany Scott knocking on her door to ask Mikki to edit her debut novel. But before Mikki had done more than write out the contract and read the first few pages, Tiffany is found dead with Mikki's card in her pocket.

Mikki is immediately concerned when the first verdict is that Tiffany committed suicide. Tiffany hadn't given any signs when she met with Mikki. Things get more complicated when she learns that Tiffany's husband was a shady businessman who wanted to turn some land outside of town into a theme park and that Tiffany's grandmother who was a childhood rival of Mikki's was opposed to the plan. 

When Tiffany's manuscript draws attention from a number of sources, Mikki begins to wonder if the story is hiding some things that could have led to her death. On the surface, a murder mystery featuring mobsters set in 1937 would not seem to do so. But why were so many concerned that Tiffany might have left anything else besides the manuscript with Mikki?

I liked Mikki who is quite an opinionated woman especially about grammar. I liked her relationship with her cat Calpurnia. I liked that she was eager to reconnect with old high school friends now that she was back home. 

The mystery was interesting with an assortment of suspects and red herrings. It also had exciting bits where Mikki is followed by a suspicious character and her house is broken into. I liked the narration by Margaret Strom. I liked that the main character was an older, retired woman who was both curious and nosy.

Favorite Quote:

Then I spent the rest of the day trying to find various functions in the newest incarnation of the word processing software I use. Can you say frustrating? I come from a long line of folks who believe that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." The computer industry had obviously never heard that saying.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.