Kristin's Bookshelf

Good Homes and Homicide
By Rachel Rose
⭐⭐⭐✨

This is the sequel to Better Homes and Murder and part of the Better Housekeeping Mysteries.

Ultimately, I enjoyed the premise of the first book a bit more, but the writing itself felt stronger here. It is always enjoyable to experience an author settle into their voice, because you can really feel it becoming more confident and recognizable with each book. There comes a point where readers can pick up a chapter and immediately know who wrote it, and I think Rachel Rose is moving further into that space with this series.

I would not consider these books standalones. You really need the context and character dynamics from the first book to fully appreciate what is happening in this one.

I also absolutely loved the Christmas setting. Everything from picking out a Christmas tree to the family get-together dynamics gave the book such a cozy, lived-in feeling. Becca’s little crush was adorable, and I really enjoyed seeing her brother begin forming a new friendship as well. Those smaller personal moments added a lot of warmth to the story and made the characters feel more grounded and real.

I liked the introduction of Shawn, and I was happy to see Opal play a larger role in the story. I also suspect Opal’s husband had a large influence on their move to town.

My biggest critique was the killer reveal and motivation. We get a very surface-level explanation for why everything happened, and I found myself wanting a deeper look into the killer’s mindset and reasoning. I think spending a little more time there would have made the ending land even stronger for me.

Overall, a strong book 2.