In Lorena McCourtney’s novel, Dying to Read, Cate Kinkaid is nearly 30 and at a crossroad. She’s helping out her private investigator uncle until another job opens up. Her first assignment is simply to verify that a particular woman lived at a certain address. But things get complicated when Cate finds a disgruntled book club and a dead body rather than the woman she’s looking for.

Then Cate’s uncle falls off a ladder and needs hip surgery, so she’s on her own. She decides the least she can do is try to get more information about the woman she was originally looking for. But, though she has no PI training, something about the dead woman’s case and the book club nags at her. Before long she finds herself deep in suspects and danger.

I don’t read many mysteries. I got this on a Kindle sale because of the title and the book club aspect. It took me a little while to get into the book, but I was engaged before too long. Cait is a little quirky. I wouldn’t call the writing funny, exactly, but there are some witty moments. But it’s not exactly a comedy: there are several twists and turns and some dangerous moments. The author did a good job presenting several plausible suspects while keeping the real murderer a surprise until nearly the end.

This book is the first in a trilogy. If you like clean, cozy mysteries with a Christian main character, I think you’d like this book.

(Sharing with Carole’s Books You Loved, Booknificent Thursday)