In Priced to Kill by Catherine Bruns, Cindy York gets invited to her high school’s 25th reunion, which is to be hosted at the mansion home of Ben and Michelle Steadman. Cindy is hesitant to go because this was where she found the body of her best friend, Paul, younger brother of Ben, who killed himself just before graduating from high school. However, Ben lures her to the house by saying he’d like her to sell his mansion for him and to bring a contract. At the reunion, Ben presents the attendees with the class time capsule they had filled out and buried just the day before Cindy found the body of Paul. In this capsule, Cindy finds the envelope filled out by Paul and opens it, only to find a letter addressed to herself in which he declares his love for Cindy and says that her hopes he will be standing next to her when they open the capsule. This letter puts all the pieces together in Cindy’s head, making her realize that Paul didn’t kill himself but rather was murdered.
Cindy spends the next week tracking down people from Paul’s past in order to get to the bottom of this cold case that Cindy discovers was bungled every step of the way. In the meantime, she faces her own health issues and family problems, especially when Cindy’s 16- year- old daughter turns to Michelle Steadman in hero worship over Michelle’z once having been offered a position as an NFL cheerleader. With the support of her best friend, Jacques, Cindy works to track down the truth.
I really enjoyed listening to Priced to Kill even more than the previous book, Killer Transaction, to which I gave five stars in my review. I liked the cold case plot and the way Cindy revisits her own past. Because of her grief and shock over Paul’s apparent suicide, she had mentally blocked out most of the details of the situation, making her have to discover things about herself as well as about Paul.
I also appreciated the strong family structure found in this book, along with other positive details. Cindy has a strong marriage in its 18th year, though it’s not without its challenges. She struggles to deal with the mood swings and rebellion of her 16- year- old daughter, Darcy, as well as the mischief of her 8- year- old twin boys. Cindy’s life contrasts with those of some of her high school classmates, especially Ben and Michelle, who both have shown tendencies to cheat on each other. These characters come across as real people with genuine lives and are excellently depicted.
Amy Deuchler returns to perform the audio edition of this book. With a gentle voice, she effectively embodies the character of Cindy, who serves as the book’s narrator. She has done a good job of crafting voices for each character that suit each well. Deuchler uses strong expressions to make the book fun to listen to. I definitely would listen to more cozy mysteries narrated by her!
I had a truly positive experience listening to Priced to Kill, which contains a solid, intriguing plot as well as convincing, realistic characters. I recommend this book and give it five stars.
Disclaimer: I was given this book for free for review purposes, but that had no influence on the content of my review.
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