Milo Rathkey gets embroiled in another adventure in D.B. Elrogg’s latest humorous mystery, Missed the Murder Went to Yoga. A book club has gathered for its regular meeting when one member, a well-known blogger, falls dead of poisoning. The medical examiner figures out the poison by the victim’s utterance of a single word as she lies dying: yellow. People who ingest wolfsbane, also known in its plant form as monk’s hood, often see yellow, a fact noted by a nurse in their book group. Milo gets called on to consult in the case and gets away with getting shot at only once. But, being Milo Rathkey, he does so with humor and clever deductions.
This is the third book in the series, and I’ve really enjoyed all three. The back story to the book has a lot of curious details, giving the book a quirkiness that makes it a lot of fun. At the same time that the story contains many humorous details, it also contains clever logic that readers will find exciting. The individual characters show well-written dynamics and relate to each other in fun ways.
The audiobook, narrated by Tom Lennon, is so effective that it is well worth listening to instead of reading the book visually. Lennon has a voice that takes us to the era of Sam Spade and other noir detectives. Yet as you should know by now, this series is far from being typical noir. So the selection of Lennon for this narration has a fun irony to it.
I highly recommend that all mystery lovers check out the audiobook of Missed the Murder Went to Yoga. It entertains while keeping listeners focused on the exciting mystery. I give both the book and the audio performance five stars each.
