Emilie Richards was on a list of mystery writers who have religious characters who solve crimes. Aggie Sloan-Wilcox is the wife of a Unitarian minister in a small town in Ohio. When the manager of the local food pantry disappears and the wife of the mayor is poisoned Aggie sets out to solve both mysteries. Along the way a valuable punch bowl disappears from the parish kitchen, the missing food pantry manager turns up at a drag queen review and a mysterious man who resembles the food pantry manager is lurking in a house Aggie is fixing up for her mother. Emilie Richards has written over 50 novels, mysteries and others. I found the quality of her writing to be uneven. In places I was carried along with the story and could hardly stop reading. But in other sections it dragged and I wondered if it was worth continuing. By the end I liked the Aggie and the other characters. I might even give Emilie Richards another change. But first there are some other churchy mystery writers to check out. ( )

I never felt as if I connected with the characters to care enough about what happened.

Aggie and Ed Sloan go to New York to have a relaxing weekend and end up getting news that one of their congregants has disappeared and was last known to have been in New York. Aggie's investigation leads to a startling discovery--the man has been performing as Cher in a New York bar once a month.

Back home, the mayor's wife drops dead at the Mayday! celebration. Her husband asks for Aggie's help because he thinks the police suspect him. Hazel's notes seem to point a finger at the food bank charity Joe managed.

Are the two things connected? Aggie investigates further and discovers Joe's brother Rueben squatting in her mother's future home. Luckily he's a contractor and has been doing work another company was supposed to be doing. The Belcore family seems to reflect the Biblical story of Joseph and his brothers.

I didn't guess the culprit, but I don't think I really cared who it was so I didn't try very hard. ( )

I haven't read the other books in this series so I can't comment on the hold-up of the setting. Usually with books I would never start out of order, but with some mystery cozies it can be allowable.

I don't think I suffered much missing by beginning with the third book here. Aggie is a cool person with a great personality to follow. Her inner humor is fun and she's not too flighty or obnoxiously risky. I guess this is another series where deaths, bodies, and mysteries keep falling into the heroine's lap. I haven't read a book from the point of view of a pastor's wife before so that was interesting to do. It was in no way religious themed or preachy or anything, so no need to be turned off by that.

At first the story was a bit dry and wasn't the easiest to get sucked into, but it slowly unfolded. This is the main reason is stays a three star. The mystery wasn't the biggest in the world but it was a fun enough ride if you have the book laying around on a rainy day. It was completely a cozy mystery and there was much cuteness to endear the reader. The sense of humor translated naturally across the page thanks to the writer's style and ease of wording.

Really the humor and heroine's personality reigns as the stories strongest point. The mystery was a little lackluster but the end was a bit of surprise with some of what it held. I would read another book in this series to see how much I'd want to continue it, but as of this reading it not a mystery series favorite yet. ( )

Minister’s wife Aggie Wilcox is asked by a parishioner to help uncover what happened to her missing husband. Joe Wagner is the beloved director of Helping Hands, the Emerald Springs food bank and their major fundraising event is this weekend. Aggie and her husband discover Joe’s secret pretty quickly, but his disappearance takes a back seat when the mayor’s wife drops dead at the fundraiser. Now both Joe and the mayor are on the suspect list and it’s up to Aggie to find the truth.

It’s a fast read, but not a great mystery. The characters are mostly stereotypes, and Aggie’s “ability” to discern motives from body language and innuendo seems ridiculously simplistic. The plot is convoluted and unnecessarily complicated, and then is wrapped neatly up in a few pages. No wonder the police detective is always telling her to butt out. And speaking of that “hunky” detective … what’s with the constant references to some kind of sexual attraction between them? And the whole continued breakage of the Women’s Society antique crystal punch bowl has more than worn thin.
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Another good entry in this cozy series. Ed is a saint. Makes you kind of afraid to know Aggie as you might be next in line to be killed.... ( )