Murder at the Courthouse

Does anyone have special plans for Halloween?  Because of my dogs, I turn our house dark on Halloween.  I tried to give out candy to the children, but I experienced too many problems (like escaping dogs).  Tonight is the Stitchers Halloween special.  I enjoy the new ABC Family show.  It is the only decent thing on ABC Family during the Halloween season (they are changing their name to Freeform-which makes absolutely no sense).  Do you have any traditions in your family?

Murder at the Courthouse by A.H. Gabhart is the first book in the Hidden Springs Mysteries.  Miss Willadean Dearmon goes to the courthouse every morning.  This morning she walks up the steps and sees a man slumped against a pillar.  Miss Willadean immediately goes to the sheriff’s office to report a drunk man on the steps.  Deputy Sheriff Michael Keane investigates and discovers the man has been shot (and he is dead).  Michael will have his work cut out for him to find the culprit.  He will have to deal with nosy townspeople, a blowhard detective (who is thankfully sick in the hospital), and the editor of the Hidden Springs Gazette.  Who is the dead man and why was he is Hidden Springs?  Will Michael be able to find the culprit before anyone else gets hurt? 

Michael is also working to keep Anthony Blake on the straight and narrow.  Anthony is on probation and must attend school every single day.  Michael notices that Anthony was not in school on the day the man was discovered on the courthouse steps.  Michael is determined to help this young man.  Anthony lives with his aunt since the disappearance of his mother ten years ago.  No one has seen or heard from Anthony’s mother in all that time.  Does Anthony know anything about the murder (is that why he was seen near the courthouse)?

Murder at the Courthouse is a Christian mystery series.  It is a slow paced novel that gets more interesting toward the end of the novel.  There are a lot of characters in the novel and it can be hard to keep them all straight (there are so many townspeople and all of them are nosy).  I give Murder at the Courthouse 3.25 out of 5 stars (it did get more interesting).  I also liked the mystery in the book.  It was very easy to solve, but I liked all the different parts.  I will be curious to read the next book in the Hidden Springs Mysteries. A.H. Gabhart is Ann Gabhart who writes the Shaker fiction novels. You can visit her on Amazon to see her other books and to follow her.

I received a complimentary copy of Murder at the Courthouse from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for stopping by and reading my review.  I really do appreciate you taking the time out of your day to visit my site. Have a nice, relaxing evening and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader