The First Fiancée

by Rita A. Popp

The discovery of human bones near a remote New Mexico mountain village sets a worried sister on a treacherous path to solve a murder. Bethany Jarviss fears her sister’s fiancé killed the long-missing young woman. He was first engaged to her and swears he thought she left him to pursue a singing career.

News of the murder swirls as the newly engaged couple get set to open their bed-and-breakfast inn right before Christmas. Bethany, who once solved the murder of a college girl, gives in to her sister’s pleas to investigate this case. Soon she meets many locals besides her future brother-in-law who had motives for killing his beautiful, thieving, secretive first fiancée.

260 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 14, 2022

Reviews

[Patricia Stoltey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rita A. Popp’s sleuth, Bethany Jarviss, is clever, determined, and fearless. In her well-paced novel, Popp takes us on a search for the killer of The First Fiancée to help her sister, Joni, who’s walking a tightrope as the second fiancée. Is the guy Joni intends to marry a killer? Bethany is determined to find out. Her sleuthing uncovers a host of other suspects and exposes the first fiancee's shady past. An excellent series debut.

[Charles Roamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn't read a good mystery in many years, and my recent reading of Rita Popp's The First Fiancee was a reminder of how absorbing the old genre can be. This under 300-page contemporary story is a great whodunit set in a small New Mexico mountain town with a real sense of place, no doubt influenced by the author's familiarity from having a second home in the area. The town of Sorrell, however, is fictional, and its denizen characters are well created.

The plot evolves from the discovery of the remains of a young woman who was thought to have run off from a young man that she was engaged to seven years earlier, but the evidence indicates she was murdered. In the meantime, the man found a second financee, and he became a suspect in the murder of his first. Not relying on the police investigation, the second financee calls in her older sister, Bethany Jarviss, who became an amateur sleuth when she helped solve a previous murder case.

The story has many developments that create suspense and keep the reader guessing, and I won't say more to avoid being a spoiler. I think anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery would like this book by an author who may be a rising star in the genre.

Charles Roamer, author of 83 Odyssey--An Adventure Down the Spine of America on U.S. Highway 83

[George Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The First Fiancée is an easy read. The editing was well done. I only noticed a few grammar or typos, much fewer than one expects to stumble across in a debut novel.

While the number of potential suspects is more than I could comfortably keep track of, Popp did an admirable job developing each character. She brought a bit of life and humor to each person. When the restaurant owner hooted with laughter, so did I. This natural behavior extends to most characters.

I’m not sure what the genre was. After the first chapters, I was expecting a who-dun-it with some danger. I didn’t find action, nor many twists or dangerous scenes. The plot was straightforward, as the protagonist told us she was there to find out who had killed the first fiancée. She doggedly followed the storyline until she solved the murder.

The subplot about the victim’s brother was not an easy task. Popp did an excellent job of sharing this special person with her readers. Bravo!

The First Fiancée was Popp’s debut novel, and the next will be much stronger.

[Carl Vonderau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rita Popp’s debut mystery is crackling good fun. Her feisty protagonist, Bethany Jarvis, must deduce if her sister’s fiancé killed the first woman he was engaged to. The first fiancée disappeared many years ago and her murdered body has just been found. It’s delightfully set in a small town in New Mexico with terrific local characters who know what everyone in town is doing. Some of them suspect the sisters fiancé; he does have a temper. Only Bethany, an amateur sleuth, can get to the bottom of it and either save her sister’s prospective marriage or save her sister from a killer. But the town is full of people who might have done away with the selfish and manipulative first fiancée. I didn’t guess who the killer was until Popp revealed it at the end. This is the first of a promising series of Bethany Jarvis mysteries. It is very much like a cozy and only lightly touches on violence and sex. I highly recommend it to those who want a mystery that is great fun to read.

[Jeffrey Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading The First Fiancée by Rita Popp. This story introduces readers to a number of very interesting people in a mid-winter New Mexico mountain town. They are potential suspects or sources of information for Bethany Jarviss, a northern New Mexican whose sister Joni now lives in the town. Bethany is determined to find the killer of Joni’s future husband’s first fiancée. As Bethany learns more about the townspeople, readers are drawn into their lives. Tension builds as Bethany’s investigation goes through a series of twists and turns. She worries about her sister’s fate and recognizes that her inquiries put herself in danger too. This novel carefully depicts the people, their stores and homes and the difficult winter climate of this mountain town, and it builds to an exciting climax. I look forward to Rita Popp’s next book in the Bethany Jarviss series.

[G.P. Gottlieb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-paced cozy mystery set in the southwest and filled with interesting, thoughtfully drawn characters: sleuth Bethany Jarviss, her sister Joni, the questionable guy Joni plans to marry (who might or might not have had something to do with his first fiance's death), and people in the town who were there through it all. I especially liked the special-needs character who befriends Bethany. Looking forward to reading more of Rita A. Popp!

[Joan Allmendinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Popp's debut mystery held my attention from the first page to the last. Bethany Jarvis' investigation on behalf of her sister leads to an interesting set of characters, intriguing and realistic conversations and a number of possible suspects. The story is a well paced, entertaining whodunit that kept me reading late into the night.

[Hillary Beck-Gifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable, read and great start for a new series.

[Rachel Lehman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this book, and was pleasantly surprised by the killer! Rita kept me guessing until the end. Can't wait to see what other murders Bethany comes to solve.

[Nancy Pieper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable book with many unexpected twists and turns. Ms.Popp quickly grabs your interest and keeps you guessing to the end of her tale.
I’m eager to read the next adventure

[Homerun2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars