The debut of Abby L. VanDiver’s series A Romaine Wilder Mystery had me laughing out loud all throughout the story.  Suppose your family owned a funeral home only to discover an unidentified corpse in one of your caskets and no idea how it got there!  Tag along with a fun cast of characters in SECRETS, LIES, &CRAWFISH PIES! Happy Reading! 😊 📚


5 Star Review by Chatting About Cozies (Linda Langford)

I felt right at home reading this story.  I’m a native East Texan and could’ve stepped right out of the pages of Abby L. VanDiver’s story.  Set around the awesome pineywoods area of Roble, TX, we find protagonist—Dr. Romaine Wilder—traveling home with her Aunt Zanne (Babet).  Home being the Ball Funeral Home & Crematorium.  They arrive to find Josephine Gail, Babet’s ditzy best friend, all in a tizzy saying there’s an extra dead body in the funeral home.  Sure enough, there’s a suited corpse laying in a casket someone swiped from the showroom floor!  The local law, Pogue, just happens to be Romaine’s first cousin, and he’s pretty green when it comes to solving crimes, especially murder.

Aunt Zanne’s not shy and she’s determined to find out who the unidentified dead man is as soon as Romaine performs the autopsy to determine cause of death and whatever other clues she can gleam from the body.  Following Auntie as she drags Romaine from place to place looking for clues had me chuckling throughout the story.  Babet is not one to stop when she’s on a mission!

Ms. VanDiver skillfully sets up a mighty fine southern mystery.  Brimming with humor, it’s a great portrayal of small town families, friends, and rivalries.  The cast have realistic personality quirks and all kinds of talent!  I had fun reading this story and can hardly wait for the next one.  5 out of 5 Stars!

I provide an honest review of an ARC from NetGalley and Henery Press.  Thank you.

Image source: Goodreads