So this is actually closer to a 3.5 star read, but I did enjoy my time enough with the book that I bumped it up rather than down. I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Death in the Details, I was really happy to catch up with Maple and her friends. I still love the characters and I think that does a lot of heavy lifting in this book. Maple leaves some new things about her brother's death and Kenny is dealing with the death of his friend in the titular murder.

The major problem I had with this book is the pacing. Maple and Kenny are taken to Boston because of the murder and they spend a decent amount of the story there. This moves Maple's personal story along, but it kind of makes the murder part of the story suffer. I don't feel like the nutshells, the dioramas that Maple makes, really had a major purpose in the story in the same way they did in the first book. I also felt like the mob being involved in the story was kind of a large jump from the first book. I thought there would be a more gentle ramp if the series ever got to that point, maybe in a few books.

However, I still read the book in a day and will gladly pick up the next book. I curious what the author will do.

Murder in Miniature is the second book in the Maple Bishop mystery series by Katie Tietjen. This was a fabulous book and I really enjoyed reading it. The historical setting and details were very well researched and fascinating to read about. The mystery kept me guessing right up until the last page and truly surprised me. The characters are becoming more well developed and interesting, especially Maple herself. I’m enjoying how she is figuring out who she is and what she would like to do with her life in the wake of WWII and the loss of her husband. It’s also interesting to read about what the other characters are going through in the time after WWII. I think sometimes we feel like people just went right back to their lives and of course, that didn’t happen. It was compelling and sad to read about the suffering after the war as people tried to adjust to life back home or adjust to family members who came back different or not at all. I look forward to read more about Maple and her friends and their lives after WWII.