Lowcountry Bordello - Review

Lowcountry Bordello (Liz Talbot #4) by Susan M. Boyer
Rating:4 Stars
Source: NetGalley
Description:  The Charleston streets are dressed for the holidays in sophisticated Southern style: topiaries adorned with red ribbons, garland entwined with white lights, and poinsettias potted in gold planters.  The high class bordello in a stately historic home is certainly no exception.  When Private Investigator Liz Talbot's dear friend Olivia swears she saw a dead body in the parlor of this bordello, one Olivia accidentally co-owns, Liz promptly comes to her aid.  With her wedding back home on Stalla Maris less than a week away, Liz must juggle one elderly madam, two ex and future in-laws, three ghosts in the bordello, four giddy bridesmaids, five lovely courtesans, six suspicious patrons...and a partridge in a pear tree as she tries to keep her bridesmaid out of jail and live to walk down the aisle (from Goodreads)

Genre: Mystery

Why I Picked This Book: I read, reviewed and thoroughly enjoyed the previous book in the series, Lowcountry Boneyard, back in April and couldn't wait to read the next book.  Plus, I was curious to see how one accidentally co-owns a bordello.

My Impression:
Pro: In the earlier book I had read in this series I was a little confused by Colleen, Liz's ghostly friend.  I was pleased that in this book not only did Boyer give us a few paragraphs to explain her purpose but her role in the active investigation really made sense.
The mystery itself was entertaining with lots of red herrings and suspects.  I did find out how one accidentally co-owns a bordello and it made sense though I do question how sweet sweet little Aunt Dean really is.  I loved seeing Nate and Liz again and was glad that Nate played a bigger part in the investigation than he had in the last book.  I love how they work together.  They really work as a team which is nice to see.  I'm normally not a fan of a lot going on in mysteries and there was certainly a lot going on in this one but it helped that I really liked all these people and wanted to hear more about the wedding planning and all that.  It did make me even happier that I skipped the big wedding.  Just reading about all the planning made me stressed!  It also made me happy that the reason Liz and Olivia are friends is explained.  When we first meet Olivia she's very much a "with friends like these who needs enemies" kind of friend but we do see why Liz is so loyal to her.

Cons:  There are a lot of characters and while most of them are fully fleshed out and easy to remember we only know the *ahem* visitors at the bordello by their name and who their "niece" is.  Frequently it took me a minute to remember what details went to which person.  It didn't diminish my enjoyment but it was about the only negative in this fun mystery.

Overall: Boyer is going on my auto-buy cozy mystery authors list.  This was my 2nd book by her and I think I enjoyed this one even more than the last one.  The pacing is good, the mystery is interesting and entertaining, and I want to be friends with Liz and Nate.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Definitely!  I'm already looking forward to my next visit with Liz, Nate, and everyone else!

Would I Recommend this Book?: Absolutely!  If you enjoy a cozy mystery this series is proving to be excellent.