Downward Facing Death by Michelle Kelly – Publisher: Minotaur Books, January 2016

After ten years away, Keeley Carpenter is excited to be back in Belfrey, the traditional English village hometown she fled as a shy teen, with a plan to reopen her father’s neglected butcher shop as a yoga café, where she will sell delicious vegetarian food by day and teach yoga classes at night. However the more traditional residents of Belfrey do not take kindly to this idea-or really anything they deem even remotely “New Age-y.” Within an hour of her arrival, Keeley comes face to face with Detective Constable Ben Taylor, who tells her that someone has just tried to burn down her shop. When officers arrived to stop the blaze, a body was found upstairs. Horrified by this news, Keeley is also startled to be reintroduced to Ben as DC Taylor, as he was her high school crush. In spite of her instant attraction to him, Keeley is determined to keep Ben at arm’s length.

As she settles back in to Belfrey and makes plans for her opening day, she soon finds herself embroiled in a murder investigation. When Keeley starts being threatened herself, she realizes someone may be out to kill more than her business prospects – but can she and Ben find the culprit before it’s too late?

This was a good read with a mystery that kept me engaged and entertained at the same time. The author did a great job in providing a slew of suspects and clues that kept me reading with some surprises that enhanced the telling of this light and fresh drama. I like how easy it was to follow along with the characters giving me just enough to tease me yet keeping me intrigued in all aspects of this mystery. This was an enjoyable and fun read and I hope there are more stories with Keeley and her friends.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from Minotaur via NetGalley.