Leave Tomorrow Behind: A Stella Crown Mystery (Stella Crown Series)

Leave Tomorrow Behind sees me unexpectedly reading a book about the merits of different breed of cattle and how best to show them at county fairs in rural America. In parallel, the same discussion about pageants also occurs, but most of the girls who participate are more interesting than the cattle. This is the latest installment featuring Stella Crown, our irascible biker turned dairy farmer who now has a live-in boyfriend who wants to marry. In theory, this is a cozy mystery but given the importance of the cattle, I suspect bucolic mystery might be a better description.

Lurking in the midst of all this judging of flesh, there’s a murder. A rising star of the local country and western scene is found dead after her concert. Because Stella happens to be in the wrong place, she finds the body and is hassled by the local police. This gives her an incentive to find the killer and restore peace and tranquility to her life. The result is a moderately ingenious mystery with an annoying subplot as her prospective sister-in-law tries to arrange the marriage Stella would least like. Those of you who enjoyed the previous books in this series will probably enjoy this.