I enjoyed this mystery and think there’s a lot of potential in this series.
The cast of characters was likeable, the plot sound and interesting.
I look forward to reading a new instalment in this series.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane and Netgalley for this arc

I very much enjoyed this second book in the series! My phrase for this one is: "Money is the root of all evil."

Desiree is settling in to her job at the family funeral home. She is taking care of arrangements for a funeral when she overhears a suspicious remark and that sets her off to suspecting murder. When it becomes evident that there may have been some crimes, her life gets put in danger. Everyone wants her to back off before she gets killed, but she has a hunch that she can solve her father's disappearance along with a murder.

I was given an eARC by the publisher through NetGalley.

I loved this second book in Lillian Bell's Funeral Parlor Mystery series. 'If the Coffin Fits' follows Desiree Turner as she struggles to deal with the death of her Dad and her career as an on air new personality and reporter. She is back in the family mortuary business. She doggedly pursues issues with a suspicious death which land her in danger, with a lot of trouble added in. Her love interests seem to have expanded along with her renown as a reporter as she is courted to a bigger newspaper market. How this all happens, as well as an incredible reveal is what makes for a great cozy mystery! I literally can't wait for the next one.

It took me a bit to get into this book, but it was worth the slow start. There is so much revelation and interesting development in this book! I cannot wait for the next one.

If the Coffin Fits by Lillian Bell

This is the second book in the series The Funeral Parlor Mysteries. I really have to say I could not put this book down. It is one of the best Cozy Mysteries I have read. The main character Desiree does not give up if she feels she is right. She is charming and being a former investigative reporter she sniffs out clues, to the frustration of her family, friends and the local police. I love Orion the dog whom she falls in love with after her owner dies. He is comical and such a loving addition. The book is very descriptive and helps you to visualize what it is like to run a funeral parlor, the town and the characters. Desiree is sure someone has been murder and while investigated thinks that it has something to do with her father's disappearance 2 years before which I think is a good story line. I also like the fact that you did not have to read the first book in order to catch up on the second one. Verbena, Jasmine, Donna, Uncle Joe, Luke and Rafe all have very interesting stories in themselves. I know anyone who likes cozy mysteries will like this book very much.

If the Coffin Fits by Lillian Bell is two mysteries in one.
Former investigative reporter and current family funeral assistant Desiree writes part time for the local newspaper and writrs obituaries.
When the local resident dies in a car cradh Desiree gets pulled into seemingly accidental death by trying to help resident's cousin. Then she finds clues that shes new light to her father's dissapearance. While her family and friends are against Desiree's digging into the past she can help searching for the truth.
One of the best mysteries I have read in a long time. Stories are superbly intervowen, and the author masterfully portraits two tales at the same time each complementing the other.
Characters are likable and real, family relations and friendships are realisticaly presented.
I simphatised with the main character because I believed she was treated very harshly. I especially liked that there is a bit of romance, however I found Desiree's love interest wavering between two guys and I felt that her relationship with her boyfriend was on the sidelines and struck me more as an friendship than real love.
Cleverly told story, culprit is both expected and unexpected by the ending blew me away.
I can't wait for the next book.

I am so glad I got the opportunity to read this second book in the Funeral Parlour Mystery series! I love Desiree. She is funny, smart, stubborn, and in this installment has a few revelations about both herself and her family that shake her out of her complacency about how her life has evolved thus far. Her relationship with Nate is evolving, but there is the potential for a love triangle and while I hope the author doesn't go in that direction, I like Rafe as well so this will be interesting! Her sister is still struggling with her difficult pregnancy but seems to have turned a corner with that, fortunately, and Uncle Joey has a secret of his own.

I wish I could write as well as Ms Bell. Her characters are well-rounded and very realistic, and the addition of Orion the dog is new and welcome. He is really rather marvelous. The funeral home is described with enough detail that it is neither too gruesome nor too trivial and despite her initial reluctance to be back in the family business, Desiree has become comfortable with her role within it, if not exactly fond of it. She, Donna and Uncle Joey run it because it's really all they've known and it turns out that they're very good at it.

There is enough backstory that anyone picking this up without reading the first book would have no trouble with anything going on, as this can easily be read as a standalone. I can't wait to continue this series.

I did not finish this book--I got only 10% of the way into it (according to the Kindle stats--how I miss page numbers!). I gave it up because I have many books waiting to be read such that I don't want to waste my time on titles that are not interesting and not convincing.

This story is a cozy mystery about a young woman who, after committing an unforgivable error as a reporter during a live news broadcast, has come home to a small town to work in the family business, a funeral parlor. In the first part of the book, the part I read, she overhears two older sisters discussing the death of their elderly, very ill father. A slightly off remark arouses suspicion that maybe someone hurried the death along a little earlier than it would have come naturally.

That's a pretty good setup for a cozy mystery. So why did I give up on it at that point?

To me, the writing is not up to what I would call professional standards. It feels to me more like what you would expect from a minor publisher that takes books that the first-line houses turned down. I checked on Crooked Lane's stable of writers and titles and found that they are DEFINITELY NOT a lower-tier publisher. They publish some of my favorite, first-rate mystery authors. Nevertheless, this book, If the Coffin Fits, just doesn't come alive for me.

At one point, I found myself stopping several times in two pages of mostly dialogue to ask, "Why would she say that?" Or, "What? That doesn't make sense." Reading a bit further on, the reason why she said that becomes clear: It advances the plot. When characters do awkward, unnatural, even stupid things in order to allow the plot to move forward, I have to give up on the book. It's never going to ring true to me. My willing suspension of disbelief dies.

So, sadly, I had to give up on this one. Perhaps it takes on more life and interest as it goes on, but I didn't have the patience to wait for that to happen.

[And, oddly, it just occurred to me that the daughters' ordeal with their father slowly declining to his death matches my experience this last year with my wife's passing due to cancer. Perhaps the prospect of digging into that process in the story was too painful for me to continue. Maybe, but probably not.]

PUBLISHER: I have no desire to harm the reputation of authors, books, and publishers after they generously provided me with an advance review copy (even if it was only a Kindle book). Therefore, this is the ONLY place this review/set of remarks will appear. I want you to know that I gave the book serious consideration, but it just didn't light my fire.

This is a great little cozy mystery series. I enjoyed this book as much as the first one in the series and can't wait to read more.

If you worked in a funeral home and your family had been in the funeral home business for many years, don’t you think you might begin to see something suspicious in almost every body that rolled in the door? That’s what people accuse Desiree of. In fact they accuse her of looking at every family member as a possible murderer. Does not bode well for the family business. Everyone wants to take their business, well maybe I should say relative, someplace else. But someone might really have killed Violet. She had a lot of dirty little secrets recorded. What a shame, a little old lady with nothing to do but to spy on people. Sure makes for a lot of suspects.

This was a cute cozy mystery full of curious odd characters living in a small town. It’s a fun read with some wit and humor. I mean, you have to have a little humor when you write a cozy with the funeral home business as the focal point, don’t you? There are some hints thrown in and some red herrings pop up now and then so do not think you can necessarily predict the ending.

This is Book 2 of Lillian Bell’s series titled “A Funeral Parlor Mystery”. Looks like Book 1 has good reviews too so I’d read both.

***This book was provided to me free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

Will post on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, Bookbub and Bookaholic as soon as Amazon will let me.

Second book in the Funeral Parlor mysteries.
Desiree is part of the Turner family funeral home. She has had to return home to small town Verbena after her reporter career doesn’t work out. Overhearing a conversation at the Fiore funeral gets her reporter ear twitching. The accidental death of Violet Daugherty puts her instincts on alert to look further. This lovely little mystery shows you small town secrets will always rise to the surface. A good central character will keep you rooting for her and especially her dog Orion.
I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The second book in the series, we see Desiree settling in to life at the funeral parlor. She may be surrounded by death all the time, but it's the untimely ones that are giving her trouble. Trying to solve the murder she may be accused of, Desiree is soon finding herself a target by a killer. I really liked this book. It was a cute story, and once I started I didn't put it down. If you liked the first in this series, I highly recommend this one!

This is a really good second installment in the series. I can't wait for the next one. The main character is a hit with secondary characters to match. The book is charming and an easy read, even if you missed the first book in the series. Thanks to netgalley for a arc in exchange for an honest review .

I received this ARC via Netgalley in return for an honest review. Great find by a new author to me! While the second book in a series, it can be read as a stand-alone, which I did. Desiree, the protagonist, has returned home after a bad mic faux pas as an field reporter. She's now working in her hometown at the family mortuary business, along with her uncle and her pregnant sister. She also does part-time reporting at the local newspaper. A series of odd, seemingly random, deaths incite her reporter's curiosity, and she starts her research. Yep, there were murder(s) and she endangers both herself and the family business as the story unfolds. Great supporting cast of family, friends and two possible love interests. A sub-topic of her father's disappearance (and possible death while surfing) recurs during her investigations. The author does an excellent job of clearly building each character and the story arc. Nothing jars the story build and the plot line (yah!). Well done work and I look forward to the next in this series.

When Desiree bombed very publicly at her job as reporter and got fired, she went back home to her sister, uncle, the family funeral home business, and unresolved issues regarding the father who is missing and presumed dead. To further complicate things, her sister is nearing the end of a precarious pregnancy.
The first problem arises when Desiree overheard part of a conversation between two daughters of a man who was in hospice care at home and questions one of them. Almost concomitantly there is business in the form of a relative newcomer who died in a car wreck but the autopsy is rather iffy, and things get even more interesting when the only known relative who lives on the other side of the country coerced Desiree into performing all the other local tasks. Turns out that the woman who died was unpleasant among other things and also had a rather marvelous young dog who quickly insinuated himself into her heart.
Enough of the recapping. The mystery is more than just entertaining but is solid and has lots of suspects and red herrings. It's not the doom and gloom sort nor a gigglefest, but a real brain grabber that keeps you reading beyond a reasonable hour. The characters are interesting and engaging and the situations and conversations ring true. I was unaware that it is second in series until after I finished, but, at the moment, the first is on sale so I snaffled a copy.
I requested and received a free review copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

This is book #2 in the series. It is interesting enough it will make you want to read book #1 so start there even though you don't have to do so. Desiree lost her previous job and is now helping to run the family funeral home. Desiree also is the only one who doesn't believe her father is dead. So she is investigating that as well as what she feels is a suspicious death.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. - Great read, good characters, interesting plot.

I enjoy this series. This is a solid second entry and I hope that the series continues. It's a quick, fun read. I would recommend it.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the Advance Reader Copy.

There are some strange things going on in Verbana, CA and Desiree Turner is going to get to the bottom of it. No, Desiree isn't an investigator, she is the Assistant Funeral Director at Turner Family Funeral Home. If the Coffin Fits is the second book in the Funeral Parlor Mystery series by Lillian Bell. You don't need to read the first book in the series to catch up, but you will want to.

This book had me entertained, laughing out loud, and wondering, "who killed Violet". Is it possible for a blackmailer to actually do some good for their victims?

And that last page, really has me wondering. Looking forward to more books in the series.

A strong mystery and perfect second installment to the series! The author adds to the characters without them losing the charm they had in the first part of the series. The mystery was so well written, easy to follow, I found myself easily getting lost in the story and really feeling like I was right there with the characters!

After reading several cozy mysteries lately that were severely short on the mystery, I was very happy with If The Coffin Fits. Desiree is out and about hustling her tush, first to find a murder to investigate (a pretty unusual twist since most heroines bemoan their fate) and then find evidence to back up her suspicions.

I saw the very end coming so it didn't quite fit a cliffhanger to me, but it sure did leave me wanting more.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.