Purloined Poinsettia

Purloined Poinsettia (2022) Dahlia Donovan (Motts Cold Case Mystery)

Motts has been fascinated by cold cases since her childhood best friend was murdered and no one every caught. Recently, she’s discovered that the majority of girls she went to school with have been killed in the interim.

Now, as they are slowly closing in on the identity of the killer, it seems the killer is quickly closing in on Motts. She is supposed to be safe back in London with her family, but things don’t seem to be turning out that way.

No holiday was complete without her mum’s casual passive-aggressive comments.

One of the things I particularly liked was how Motts friends support her, from leaving her in silence when she needs it, and getting her away from the house when her mother is making her crazy.

We also finally have the solution to the cold case that has been bothering Motts her entire adult life.

As far as the resolution to that case, I’ll admit the ending seemed weirdly rushed. I’m not saying it needed to be drawn out, only that the final bits felt almost pancaked together.

Also, she pulled in the characters from her other ongoing series, the London Podcast series. The nice thing was that the characters were allowed to be supportive–for Motts, in a way that her friends weren’t necessarily able to be. It was odd, but not bad.

My assumption is that with the killer caught, this is the end of Motts series. I’ve enjoyed it, and I’ll miss it if it’s done, but this is a natural stopping place.

Publisher: Tangled Tree Publishing

Rating: 8/10

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