Book Review: Mystery in the Title by Ian Ferguson and Will Ferguson

I’m always delighted to see memorable characters return again and again, and Mystery in the Title by Ian Ferguson and Will Ferguson is the second in the cozy mystery series featuring Miranda Abbott, a once-famous actress who hasn’t had a paying gig in awhile.  It has been two years since I read the first in the series I Only Read Murder, but I recommend reading that one first if you want to pick up this second one. In fact, the third has just come out, and you can find it here.

Plot Summary

Miranda is still in the small town of Happy Rock, living with her biggest fan Bea at her bed and breakfast, along with her unpaid assistant, Andrew. Miranda has managed to surround herself with people that still love and put up with her, despite her narcissistic behaviour. A few decades ago Miranda played a beloved crime-fighting detective named Pastor Fran in a popular television series, and as described in the first book, Miranda has managed to find herself in present day mysteries that she also like to help solve, albeit in a slightly bumbling and non-intentional way. This time, she has been (miraculously) cast in a big budget film that is strangely being filmed in Happy Rock, but when the main star of the show dies, Miranda and Andrew set their sights on finding the killer, desperate to keep this movie shoot afloat. The on and off again romance between Miranda and her ex-husband Edgar continues, but it grows into a love square (?) when two other men enter the picture; the rich producer intent on making Miranda a star again, and the handsome leading man cast to replace the dead guy. Once again, humour is the leading theme of the plot, with Miranda’s dramatics set against the small-town backdrop. It feels very “Schitt’s Creek” for those who know and love that Canadian television series.

My Thoughts

This is the perfect summertime read. The dialogue is funny, the plots are simple to follow, and the deaths are never upsetting. Like all good cozy mysteries, everything is as it should be again by the end of the book, and I found great comfort in knowing that at the outset. Miranda flounces around for most of the story, but this second installment develops her character a bit further into a person who really starts to feel as though she’s a Happy Rock local, rather than a Hollywood starlet waiting to escape into her next big break. Her quirks are fun to read about; she treats the local sheriff as a taxi service, and although he complains about it he doesn’t have much to do otherwise, so he drives her around whenever she requests it.

Ian Ferguson has a background in entertainment, so Miranda’s s history as a television star and her struggles to break back into stardom read as believable but still entertaining. Because this book centers on the production of a feature film, we also learn more about the intricacies of a major production, and all the different roles involved. Ferguson is adept at giving just enough detail to keep things interesting and teach us a thing or two, but knows enough to not get into the nitty gritty – we remain at the surface with a few insider details thrown in, which kept the story moving along nicely.

There’s a few introductions of new characters that will prove to round out the growing cast of Happy Rock residents nicely. Jane Bannister is a new journalist in town, eager to hone her reporting skills on this shocking celebrity murder, but you can tell that she’ll likely return in the next book as her personality traits are ones that are clearly lacking in the current group of characters. Most importantly, she’s young! As I noticed in the previous novel, there isn’t much talk of families, or children at all; everyone is a full-grown adult while aging gracefully, which adds to the idyllic atmosphere of Happy Rock. It’s definitely a place I want to return to time and time again.