Joanne Sydney Lessner

I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour in exchange for a fair an honest review. I rated it 4.5 out of 5 Stars.

A fan of female sleuths and cozy mysteries, I looked forward to reading and reviewing And Justice for Some by Joanne Sydney Lessner. While this is the third book in the Isobel Spice Mystery series, I was easily able to read it without having read any of the previous books in the series. Well-developed characters, a good mystery, some light humor and a good pace kept me turning the pages to discover what would happen next. If you’re a fan of mysteries, this is a series you will want to add to your reading list.

Actress and part time secretary Isobel Spice jumps at the chance to do a little light dinner theatre with her friend and roommate Delphi. Thinking they’ll get to do a little acting and get a free meal, Isobel never imagined a murder would take place and leave Delphi holding a smoking gun. Determined to prove her friend innocent, and satisfy her curiosity, Isobel once again dives into a murder investigation to uncover who killed the guest of honor at what turned out to be a real presentation of Murder a la Carte.

I really enjoyed how Ms. Lessner introduced her characters at the beginning of the book; as a person who’s always wanted to go to dinner theatre, but never been able to talk any of her friends into it, I have always been curious about how a murder mystery would get staged during a dinner. As a character, Isobel is a hoot; she’s intelligent, funny and as curious as a cat! While she’s determined to let the police do their work and not interfere, discovering her temporary boss has a connection to the victim sends her good intentions out the door. Soon Isobel is neck deep conducting her own investigation and uncovering clues about the victim that show he wasn’t a nice man and that there were plenty of people who might have wanted him dead.

The secondary characters are also well developed and I especially enjoyed getting to know her roommate and best friend Delphi, and her intelligently gifted younger brother Percival. The mystery itself took several twists and turns and kept me guessing. There’s also a little romance in the story as Isobel, who considers herself average, has two completely different men interested in having a relationship with her. She just can’t make up her mind about who she wants to date.

Will Isobel discover who killed the guest of honor while they were performing Murder a la Carte? Or will the killer add her to his list of victims before she can uncover the truth? You’ll have to read And Justice for Some to find out, I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more books in this series… (mer)