An indie author, Elise, and her mystery book club get roped into investigating the murder of her swaggering news-anchor brother, Chester, in this spry kickoff to Castle’s Detective Pear Mysteries. Elise drives a chugging old car, lives behind a succession of deadbolts, has few friends outside of her reading group, and muses that, like her editor, she works with words because she’s “short on personality.” Fortunately, Castle’s words have plenty, and once Chester—“Mr. Fake Teeth And Spray Tan”—is killed, the story zips along on crack comic dialogue, Elise’s uncertain-at-first team-up with Perla “Pear” Marquez, and the tantalizing possibility that the crime has something to do with the club’s recent contest: each author had one month to write a mystery for the others.

Despite the playful premise, and an emphasis on writers and publishing, Related By Murder never makes actual murder seem light or funny, and Castle proves adept at crafting convincing characters who face loss and disappointment. She also deftly handles the complexity of new and intensifying friendships among her diverse cast, plus the competitive spirits of a group of writer friends—especially once Chester dies, Elise is out-of-the-blue contacted by a top-tier agent, and her brother’s surprising connections to some in the group begin to get exposed. The plotting is smart, as is Castle’s characterization of writers: Elise yearns for a publishing deal, but of course when the life-changing break finally comes, she’s suspicious. Readers, too, will wonder: is everything somehow connected?

Helping sort all that out is Pear, a mysterious figure in her own right. She’s blunt, and nobody’s sure how she came to join their club, but despite that, she lifts Elise’s spirits with horchata and tamales—and soon gets her out of sticky situations—in spite of Elise’s clear distaste for her. The book’s chief pleasure is getting to know this striking creation alongside Elise.

Takeaway: Murder rocks a book club in this polished, character-rich series starter.

Great for fans of: Betsy Reavley’s Murder at the Book Club, Catherine Moloney.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: NA
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A