Mandy Baker Johnson

It’s not ‘here comes the bride’ but Here Comes The Ride, another great Andi McConnell mystery by Lorena McCourtney.  Andi becomes concerned for the strangely vulnerable Pam when Pam’s obsessive and overbearing stepmother Michelle books Andi’s limousine as Pam’s wedding car.  Pam is afraid is being murdered at her own wedding by Michelle, because she suspects that Michelle is responsible for her father’s death.  So when things begin to happen on the big day, it’s a huge shock to Andi and Pam when it’s the glamorous Michelle who ends up with a knife in her back (literally).  Pam is the obvious suspect for the murder and it’s not long before she’s arrested.  But Andi is certain that Pam isn’t the culprit, so it’s up to her and her faithful partner in sleuthing, Fitz, to figure out who dunnit.  Which one of the wedding guests had the motive, means and opportunity?  Especially after an ex-boyfriend of Pam’s makes an appearance, and another body turns up in the hot tub.

Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?  Is everyone what they appear to be?  Is Pam as vulnerably innocent as she seems? Who is the mysterious woman who keeps asking about renting the other half of Andi’s duplex?

This book has plenty of twists and turns and will keep you guessing right to the end.  Throughout stalks the adorable, furry, purry Phreddie, who coughs up fur balls at dramatic and inappropriate moments, and enjoys lazing on $24,000 wedding gowns.

Andi McConnell is a fascinating character.  In this book, she is growing in her relationship with God, whom she is coming to rely on in all sorts of incidents that crop up…. Like being strangled with her own handbag strap and learning to skateboard (at the age of sixty!).

This is another excellent murder mystery with plenty of comedic moments and witty descriptions from Lorena McCourtney.  If you haven’t made Andi’s acquaintance yet, I heartily recommend that you get hold of this book.  She is a character not to be missed!  I am grateful to Lorena for her generous gift to me of this Kindle book.

Author Lorena McCourtney was kind enough to send me a couple of books in her Andi McConnell mystery series recently.  In Your Chariot Awaits, we are introduced to this sassy sixty-year-old.  The day Andi is made redundant from work and inherits a limouzeen from an eccentric old uncle with dodgy spelling, her boyfriend Jerry dumps her.  Infuriated by Jerry and frustrated beyond measure, Andi grabs the nearest gardening implement to hand and chases him to his car.  It’s only after she wallops the car and dints it that she realises she’s grabbed a shovel, rather than the ‘harmless’ broom she thought she’d grabbed.  As Jerry hurriedly drives away, Andi is embarrassed that most of her neighbours have witnessed her losing it, including the obsessively nosey Tom Bolton who seems to have binoculars permanently attached to his face.

The next morning, Jerry’s body is found in the boot of the limousine and Andi finds herself the number one suspect in his murder enquiry.

Something has to be done and fast.  So Andi hooks up with ex-television detective Fitz and together they set out on an exciting sleuthing adventure in an attempt to find the real murderer.

Your Chariot Awaits contains lots of twists and turns with plenty of humorous incidents and memorable characters from the neighbour’s dog Moose who has a craze for digging up Andi’s precious daisies to young Joella who unexpectedly gives birth in the back of the limo.

For anyone who enjoys ‘who dunnits’ this Christian murder mystery is a must read.  I can heartily recommend this page-turning, well-paced story, and am looking forward to getting stuck into the next Andi McConnell book.