In the latest entry in the Santa Fe Murder series, Maddie runs into an old school friend in Santa Fe, who has moved with her husband to her husband's family home on a remote ranch. Maddie's friend asks her to join the family at the ranch for Christmas, accompanied by Maddie's fiance, Dr. David Cole. Of course the family is unhappy, with an overbearing patriarch making everyone's lives miserable. No surprise that Maddie finds him one morning, murdered, and that no one seems to be very sad about it.

Maddie and David and their artist friend Gunther (also at the ranch trying to write a novel in the quiet surroundings) are delightful well-drawn characters, and the members of the family all have their motives and quirks. Hopefully some of them become recurring characters. The setting of Santa Fe in the 1920s is fascinating and a reminder of just how remote it was at that time. The book could probably be read as a standalone, since it's removed from the usual setting of Amanda Allen's series, but the development of Maddie and David's relationship is fun to follow, so recommend reading all of the books. Thanks to Severn House and NetGalley for the ARC.

I love the setting of these books.

Santa Fe IS a magical environment and the author does a great job using her protagonist as the medium for conveying that.
Through Maddie’s artist eyes, and through her experience settling in to a new part of the country, this series gives the reader that same sense of joy and wonder.

I also love the family our protagonist has built in her new town… the books convey a sense of how important environment is to our happiness and well-being, but also the importance of friends and family ( whether “ real” or selected).

Netgalley provided me a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for a candid r3view.

Are you on the hunt for the next great murder mystery? Murder at the Hacienda should be next on your to be read pile.