Getaway With Murder

4.5 is a more accturate number, but I will round up.
I loved the setting. I have visited some of the locations mentioned, so I could really picture the area. Mountain lodges are a favorite setting of mine. And the author did a great job showing us the limitations and joys of living in an older hotel, like not having a kitchen on the premisis and having a deck with great views. I definitely want to visit the Mountiantop Inn again.
Misty is our main character and slueth. She is surrounded by a few friends, Brynn, housekeeper, Patty, restaurant owner across the street, and Rocky, handyman and love interest. I like that she is starting over after an amicable divorce becasue that goes against the trope. However, the break with her husband and kids seemed too clean. She is shown texting them once, but mentions other texts. So I assume she is communicating more than we are shown just like she is eating and sleeping more than is shown. So I talked myself out of having a big issue with that. I like that we see her meeting new types of people and adjusting her views, like with Brynn being Wiccan.
Her flirtations with Rocky are a nice slow start to a romance. They seem apporpriate for a woman who is coming out of a polite, but passionless marriage. The set up to get him staying at the lodge was a little weird, but not completely unheard of. So I am skeptically optomistic about where this is going.
Her cat does narrate a few chapters. It was interesting to get a view of the place that was not Misty's view. The cat was humorous, but wasn't vital to solving the mystery. It did add some fun and levity to the story.
The victim was obvious from when she showed up. I liked the way that some of the red herrings were presented. We had good reasons to suspect them and then we found good reasons to clear them. They made for memorable characters that were dealing badly with the death. The ‘giveaway' clue was well hidden, so I completely missed it. But when Misty figures it out, it made sense. The sherrif's deputy was a great police officer. She did not jump to conclusions. She valued Misty's input without depending on it. The solution was satisfying.
Overall, there were a couple details that sat funny with me, but they didn't detract from the overall story, setting, or characters.
I got an ARC of the book. This is my review.

This was a fun start to The Mountain Lodge Mysteries. It took me a little bit to get used to the format, but after a bit it was easier and flowed better.

I really love the little blurbs of Yeti the kitty. I always love when animals' thoughts are written in.

The setting is perfect. Small town and a remote lodge. Yoga retreat, murder and new friends. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Enjoyable new series. I like that Misty is GenX age.