The Book Club Murders: The Oakwood Mystery Series by Leslie Nagel

Charley sells vintage clothing in her store.  She's doing all she can to be successful and keep the money flow even so she joins the local bookclub.  They call themselves the Agatha's and they are the monied folks of town.  Maybe she can drum up some business by socializing with them.  She sure never expected to get involved in murder.

Alibi and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published September 27th.

Charley and Frankie are the best of friends, so they decide to do some looking into the first murder.  After all, it happened not too far from her shop.  When they find a witness the cops haven't, Charley is even more determined to find out what happened.  Of course, the police department isn't fond of that idea.  Especially since the lead detective is Marcus.  He and she had a very bad fight right before his mother's death and they don't like each other.  But they are forced to work together anyway.  She's even good help in insider information about the community and the Agatha Bookclub.  She's also the one that puts the murders in perspective.  They are being staged just like the murders in the books they've been reading in the club...

There are more murders and Charley gets drawn in deeper and deeper.  She finds her friends from Agatha's have more problems than you see in social gatherings.  One's an alcoholic on drugs.  One has a philandering husband.  One has a OCD and a controlling husband.  How do you pick a killer when everybody is a bit odd?

As it goes along Charley and Marc find themselves developing a romantic relationship.  They had to go through a truth-telling session to get things out in the air and then dismiss them but they lived through it.  Now romance is in the air.

Charley needs to be careful, though.  She's getting too close to the murderer.