Three Blonde Mice is a tongue in cheek self proclaimed nickname for friends Elaine, Jackie and Pat.  They met each other as each of them were going through a divorce, and have become fast friends.  We were introduced to these characters in Jane Heller’s Princess Charming, when they went on their first group vacation, a cruise.  This novel follows them on their second vacation to Connecticut for Cultivate Your Bounty week, a farm to table festival where they will join food enthusiasts for private cooking lessons from celebrity chef Jason Hill.  They get a little more than they bargained for when they find out that one of their classmates may want more from their chef than lessons, they may want him dead.

We quickly catch up with our three main characters.  Elaine, who found love on the high seas, is disillusioned with her boyfriend, Simon, and has broken up with him because of his lack of commitment.  Jackie and Pat, to me were pretty interchangeable, one got back together with her husband and the other is wallowing in low self esteem and seems to have a slight drinking problem.  These two are merely sidekicks to the more alpha, Elaine, who enlists their inebriated help, to try to discover the culprit.  I quite liked Elaine, who doesn’t let a surprise appearance by her ex, Simon, stop her from trying out her femme fatale moves on classmate, Jonathon, to determine whether he is guilty or innocent.

The mystery was pretty good, but the reason why a sequel was written, in my opinion, was because of the friendship of the three ladies.  They met each other and found common ground through divorce, and that support has continued as each finds their legs.  Each of them are in different places in their lives, but their friendship remains solid, even as they once again find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation.

Jane Heller’s writing is loose and funny and not your typical tightly wound mystery.  You do not need to read the first novel to enjoy Three Blonde Mice, this can be read as a stand alone novel. I received a copy of this book from he publisher, Diversion Books, through NetGalley, for my honest review.

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Copyright 2016 Deborah Kehoe A Chick Who Reads All Rights Reserved