In Make Believe Murder by Leslie Langtry, Merry Wrath gets paid a visit by an old friend from Langley, Hilly Walker, an assassin (except that the CIA doesn’t employ assassins) on her very first vacation. Merry lets Hilly stay in her own home, which is across the street from the home Merry now shares with her new husband, Rex. But it doesn’t take long before yet another dead body appears in Merry’s yard, and Riley, Merry’s former CIA handler, discovers that this is the body of Anna Beth Trident, a spy for China. Could Hilly, being a known assassin (except that the CIA doesn’t employ assassins), have killed the woman? When the Girl Scout troop led by Merry and her best friend Kelly meets at Merry’s old house, Hilly especially endears herself to them by teaching this bloodthirsty bunch to tie nooses and kill people in unique ways.
In the meantime, Merry gets involved with a group of strange teens calling themselves the Cult of NicoDerm. When they learn that Merry talks to birds, namely the king vulture at the zoo, Mr. Fancy Pants, whom Merry sponsors and visits regularly in secret, she gets named the Bird Lady Protector of the Cult of NicoDerm. Then, the experimental corn field where these teens meet magically seems to disappear, costing the developer millions of dollars. Merry must determine who is involved in all of the crazy stuff happening in Who’s There, Iowa.
As usual, I found this Merry Wrath book to be a delight. It was very fast reading and kept me thoroughly entertained. To see my other praises if this series, just read all my other reviews on the series. I give the book five stars.
