Murder by Design

Kennedy Killingsworth #2

by Betsy Brannon Green

After cracking Foster Scoggins's murder case, Kennedy Killingsworth figured life in Midway, Georgia, would settle back to normal (meaning desperately dull). But that thought goes right out the window when a black-clad man climbs in her window the one in her bedroom, that is. As she's startled awake by a hand clamped across her mouth, Kennedy's heart pounds even faster when she realizes the hand belongs to Sloan, the gorgeous and somewhat terrifying construction worker who reveals a surprising alter ego. Given the fact that he once saved her life, Kennedy doesn t protest as Sloan stows federally classified information in her not-quite antique Tiffany lamp. But then the sun comes up and things get even more complicated. Amidst gossip about her ex-husband shopping for engagement rings, Kennedy heads to the cemetery for Midway's annual Decoration Day, when residents beautify the graves and then picnic among the dead. Tragically, transient artist Jarrard Dupree soon joins the dead when he's accidentally run over by a bunch of college kids. Yet when JD's terrible paintings suddenly begin drawing dazzling offers from New York art dealers, Kennedy knows at least one of her neighbors has blood on his hands. Intrigue builds in high Southern style as Kennedy's investigation reveals which townsfolk are foes, which are friends and which may become more than a friend.

Genres: Mystery, Lds Fiction, Lds, Romance, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Adult

239 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

"WELCOME!!!!!

If you're not familiar with my books, I write mystery-suspense novels. I am LDS (Mormon) and so are some of my characters, but I have loyal readers from many different faiths. My goal is to engage the reader in my books. I want to make them laugh and cry and worry and dread the end.

Most of my books are set in the fictional town of Haggerty, Georgia - which is loosely based on my grandparents' hometown of Headland, Alabama (the most wonderful place on earth). Each book has an ample supply of romance, suspense, Southern hospitality and even recipies!"

by Betsy Brannon Green on http://www.betsybrannongreen.net/

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love BBG but this is not one of her best. I think I would give this book 3.5 stars. What redeemed it for me was the love story. Love Luke and Kennedy together! :) Satisfying ending...... for now. No matter what, I love her stories. Normally a good quick read. Didn't disappoint on that front.

[Cindi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kennedy is entertaining! I liked following her through her investigation of a murdered "artist."

[Anna del C. Dye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an intriguing tale of a small town in Midway, Georgia. It is beautifully written by a great author. The main character is a young divorced woman by the name of Kennedy. She is a university student that works as the head librarian and also part time in a storage unit, where she lives. Her mother is the sweetest woman and many times too helpful when she takes Kennedy’s time for granted.
Because of her divorce from the sheriff in town, Kennedy is looked upon with contempt by many women in her mother’s circle. This becomes even worse when she refuses to take back Cade, her ex-husband, and plays a part in resolving the case of a murdered person in her town.
When she is sure she has had enough, Kennedy is visited, not only in the middle of the night but also in her bedroom, by an FBY agent she had met in that murder case. He is being hunted himself and needs somewhere to rest for the night and a place to hide some evidence he is carrying.
The next day she is forced to retrieve a case of missing wood from where it is hidden on the side of a barn belonging to the wealthiest and most demanding woman in town.
Investigating the missing wood, she meets a man name Jarrard Dupree who insists on giving her ten of his paintings to be auctioned for the library. That is great but the painting are horrid and everyone wonders why they were stolen. What is even more odd is that mister Dupree is found dead by students who travel close to his trailer.
Things get even worse when the town’s busybody, Miss Ida Jean, tricks her into giving a welcome party for her son who has spent many years in prison.
With her days and night so busy, Kennedy doesn’t have time to see where her relationship with Luke the ex-marine stands.
Murder by Design is a clean read with an interesting tale to entice the avid detective… “Who Done It” readers. Recommended for readers over twelve.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book at Seagull books for $5.99 and thought it was worth a try. And boy was I right. This is a very fast read. I was reading it during my lunch breaks but I kept wanting to know what was happening next or I got to a good part and had to stop. So I started reading at home to finish it off.

She ended things a bit too fast for me, but a good book. I would recommend this for anyone who is 12 or older. A 10 year old might not get everything. There are no sex scenes [although the main character does a lot of kissing], there are no groping scenes, no violent scenes although there is a fist fight and a separate gun fight. They aren't violent. They help with the story line.

I wish we could give half stars. 3 1/2 is really what is it since she ended the story abruptly, but the 4 stars are appropriate. It is not a 5 star book though, although it could have been. There is a first book I didn't know about, and it is worth reading because I really enjoyed this one.

I'm a picky reader so please don't let me review keep you from reading this book. This is a murder mystery and a slight love story. It is written in the first person and done very well. If I had turned the TV off at night I could have read it in two sittings before finally having to go to bed to sleep. I'm sure it could be read in one Saturday or whatever day you might find yourself free.

Please read and enjoy this book. You might want to read the first one first though which is "Murder by the Book." I'm looking for a cheap copy now. She also has other books that I'll have to check into.

I guess my biggest complaint is her main character calls her mother 'Mother.' Which would be fine, but it's set in Georgia. I graduated high school in Georgia and I don't know anyone who calls their mother "MOTHER", it's always Momma or Mommy. Other than that the characters are great.

Enjoy the read.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this book. After the first in the series "Murder by the Book," I really want to see what happens to Kennedy. She has been Eugenia's apprentice in solving murder cases, but now she is leading a little on her own. Her getting asked to help one of her grandmother's friends with a stolen wood problem leads to a murder and illegal fertilizer ring. She is faced with the loss of her ex-husband's attention when he get "unofficially" engaged to a news anchor. She is also faced with the possibility of making her relationship with Luke Scoggin's a more formal affair when he announces that he will be transferring colleges to be closer to Haggardy. She is not sure she is ready for this commitment, but while he is there visiting and the he helps with the case, she realizes that between Luke, Sloan, and Cade, Luke is the one she would be devastated with leaving her life. Upon solving the case, Cade reveals to Kennedy that not only did Cade get bad marks for his unfaithfulness in their marriage, but he originally only showed interest in her because Luke admitted to looking up Kennedy after he returned from the Marines. Luke's interest brought out the highschool rival between himself and Cade in not allowing Luke anything that Cade thought was above him to have and he moved in on Kennedy when Luke was in basic making sure news was related to Luke. When they married and then divorced, Luke felt guilty for his believed part in Kennedy's hurt. Kennedy took the next step and told luke she loved him and that although they would take the relationship slow they could "mentally" start planning a small wedding and honeymoon.
The Sheriff keeps Kennedy close to the investigation case in order to keep her safe from getting too close to the danger like in "murder by the Book."

[Dlora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun murder mystery sleuthed out by small-town librarian Kennedy Killingsworth, but this time the sheriff has actually asked for her insights. Recluse Jarrard Dupree gifts the library his entire collection of art painted on boards stolen from a neighbor's barn (which theft Kennedy has been manipulated into tracking down by her mother's neighbor). His generosity (which was not in question) and the value of his paintings (which was) sky-rockets when he is found dead drunk and run over in front of his rural shack. Besides some good detective work, nice romantic elements, quirky characters, and a suspenseful, action-filled ending, what I like most is the setting in Midway, Georgia, where good manners rule. "Sometimes good manners can be such a nuisance," Miss Eugenia concedes, but they shape Kennedy's life. For instance: Kennedy says she accepted Mr. Dupree's invitation to call him by his first name, "even though addressing an elderly man with such casualness went against my mother's version of proper etiquette." Or "Refusing would be rude, which for some reason was a bigger etiquette infraction on Sundays than on other days of the week." The lightweight fun and frothiness has some serious moments when Kennedy realizes how many people she loves and trusts have deceived her.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this series out of order. Covenant sent me a copy of Murder by the Way for review. I really enjoyed it but when I started it I didn't realize it was book 3 in a series. Once done I went back and started over with the first book to catch up on what I missed.

I enjoyed not knowing who was the good guy and who was the bad guy throughout these books. There were enough twist and turns to keep me guessing even having read the third book first. I was still interested in the story line from the first two books despite knowing that Kennedy and Luke ended up together. It was fun to learn the how and why of their relationship.

These book are classified as LDS fiction and there is an LDS character or two in them but it's something on the sidelines, not the focus of the story. I think they could easily be read and enjoyed by anyone who enjoy a good clean, humorous mystery.

Content: Clean

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sequel, and by now you know my thoughts on sequels. As to this story. Well written but I just don't buy into the Southern "thou shalt not" offend and so don't really buy into this story. The heroine from the first book becomes involved in another murder case when she agrees to help someone she doesn't like but is not allowed to be rude to because her mother would be ashamed of her. OK? Whatever happened to "I'm sorry but I can't."

OK, so now I'm deciding I was too harsh. I need to remember that this story isn't really about the murder investigation but the Southern code that sets what is acceptable and what isn't and how that can get our heroine into exciting adventures. If she had just nicely said no, life would be boring and there would have been no story. However, the plot is thin enough it needs the Southern code to keep it going.

[Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

I inadvertently started with the second in the series and it was just okay. Kennedy is a recently divorced, a student and head librarian in a small town in Georgia. Part of the charm is the southern hospitality but it got a bit thin. Doing things because someone claimed they were a friend of a dead grandmother was a stretch. This main mystery centered on a man who donates some paintings to the library who ends up dead. I didn't like that Kennedy really was just around as the mystery unfolds and is solved. She is not integral to sleuthing anything. Very clean language and a nice romance with Luke. A side note since this was published by an LDS publisher I was surprised that the only mention of the LDS church was a brief Sunday visit to help take care of her sister's kids. The Baptists were the ones helping with the town celebrations.

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kennedy Killingsworth becomes involved in her second murder investigation in two months when Jarradd Dupree winds up dead, shortly after having donated some paintings to the local library for an auction. Shortly after his death, his paintings, which despite being rather terrible paintings, are in high demand, with buyers offering outrageous prices for them. As Kennedy tries to figure out who killed him, she's also worried about Sloan, an acquaintance who turns out be an FBI agent being framed by a colleague, and trying to figure out her relationship with Luke Scoggins.

This book was all right, nothing overly special, but it'll do if you're looking for a cozy mystery that you can breeze through.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this second installment of the Kennedy Killingsworth novels as much as I did the first book, although it was a good mystery and had some nice twists in it.

However, I guess I'm not into the Southern hospitality thing where you have to do absurd things for people just because they are your neighbor or just because they knew your grandmother, or just because it's tradition or your mother would be mad if you said you didn't want to do it.

I also found a lot of typos, which bothered me. And some things just didn't make sense--like why the cops had to all dress in black and wear ski masks to have a shoot out with some college kids who probably wouldn't be charged with anything.

But, overall, it was a fun read.

[Hollie Robb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like it was a chore reading this book. I found it boring, and now I hate Kennedy as a character, she is such a stupid character. Her first book "Murder by the Book" was cute and interesting, but this one is just a chore to read. Kennedy didn't learn from the first book. Luke is still head-over-heals with Kennedy. Cade is still a scumbag. It was just disappointing, the whole book was.

One thing I have notice that when Green writes her books she has so many things going on that diverts you to the real suspect(s).

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the author's writing style and her characters- they feel very real to me and the author has a fun voice. The love interest is believable. And the best part of this whole book was when one of the (male) characters took their shirt off. It was quite a moment!

I was frustrated that it took 5 chapters for the dead body to show up, and that the heroine did little to solve the actual crime- it just solved itself around her. She played a much more active role in the first book of this series, although that one took longer to get to the point.

[R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was both fun and frustrating in the same breadth. More from the characters we already love from Green's previous Haggerty series as well as the first Kennedy book. More interaction with Kennedy and Luke. Still no real conclusion, though there was that hint of wedding plans at the very end. This really just makes me want a third book to see exactly how it will all end. Cade and Sloan still give me the creeps, so I was glad to see them getting knocked off Kennedy's radar. Cade just keeps looking more and more like an inconsiderate bug to me. Definitely team Luke for this series.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

After cracking Foster Scoggins's murder case, Kennedy Killingsworth figured life in Midway, Georgia, would settle back to normal (meaning desperately dull). But that thought goes right out the window when a black-clad man climbs in her window the one in her bedroom, that is. As she's startled awake by a hand clamped across her mouth, Kennedy's heart pounds even faster when she realizes the hand belongs to Sloan, the gorgeous and somewhat terrifying construction worker who reveals a surprising alter ego.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was probably a 3.5 rating from me. I enjoyed this book because it was a fun murder/mystery book that was clean and wasn't too violent. I am enjoying getting to know the characters in this sleepy little Georgia town. Kennedy Killingsworth is a spunky young woman who wants to help her town and enjoy the relationships in that town. She is surrounded by her family who can get on her nerves but she loves them and loves being with them. Kennedy likes to find out the reasons that unusual things happen in her town. But she sometimes unwittingly gets in the middle of things.

[Ryviera Shayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find Betsy Brannon Green's work totally fun and her characters, ones that have been developed over several years and books, are just delightful. Most of the others can be read out of order and you can still get the ideas of the stories except you should really read the first one she wrote, first. Same with this series. You really need to read the prequel to this so this one makes more sense. But I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Betsy Brannon Green is one of my most favorite authors and I always look forward to reading her books. The characters are well written and the descriptions make it very easy to picture the action of the story in the movie if my mind. This particular book, however, was a bit too busy for me. Even though everything tied together eventually, there were so many characters and plot lines that I sometimes found it confusing to follow. Still an entertaining mystery, just not my favorite.

[T.K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book because it toyed with me. :) I kept thinking the lovable, but downtrodden characters were waltzing to a dull plot. Then BBG would yank the story around, and leave me white-knuckling the binding: very fun. This book could have used a little more editing, but overall, an excellent read.

[Kim Golding · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the first book in this series but had a difficult time getting into this one. It didn't really hold my attention and wasn't one of those books I couldn't put down--it's taken me 6 months to read it because I wan't just dying to find out what was going to happen. When i finished I thought, "Oh that was cute," even if it wasn't the best book ever.

[Darla · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Genre:LDS fiction/mystery) I always like Betsy Brannon Green's books. Her characters and their dialogue are her strengths and make reading her books entertaining for me. I also enjoy the glimpses into the "Southern" culture. The main character, Kennedy, is quirky and it's fun to spend time in her head.

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as good as Murder By The Book except the criminals seem a little bit more far fetched. I love how things develop between Kennedy and Luke and how comfortable their relationship is. And I really like that Besty Green brings some of her Haggerty characters into these books without overdoing it.

[Sheila (sheilasbookreviewer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this 2nd installment about Kennedy Killingsworth. There were many surprises,
but this book wasn't as intense as the 1st one. I still really love having Luke around and
Cade still is irritating. I liked how there were two mysteries to be solved and one
wasn't figured out until the end. I always enjoy reading Betsy Brannon Green's novels.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, quick read. Kennedy doesn't really do anything. She just happens to be in the right (or wrong) place at the right time. But, the story is a light, clean, escape. There was something very touching about one aspect of the mystery. I don't know that I would really classify this as LDS fiction. The church is barely a part of the story.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this second book in the series was better from the first because Kennedy seemed a little clearer about her romantic intentions and not just drifting about constantly like in the first book, and I felt the law enforcement dis-information campaign was more realistic although all the information sharing was still troulbesome. I basically liked it. P.S. I listened to this one, too.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a typical cozy mystery that I enjoyed. What makes it atypical is that it is also Mormon fiction that incorporates The Church without smackng the reader over the head with Mormon doctrine. They are just a normal part of the story, much like they are in regular life.

Also, different from many other books written lately, the love triangle is over and it is only book two.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It was a good sequel to, "Murder by the Book". I hope that there will be more books in the series. My daughter enjoyed this book also.

I have just gotten done with this book for the second time. I still like it.

[Kayel · Rating 2 out of 5]

i don't usually add my audio books, and I've read others by this same author. these books are always simple and fluffy and easy enough, but this was too too lame!! only 6 discs long, but this was a robbery story til 1/2 thru disc 4. Boring! ps, did i already say LAME?

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's because I lost my mom when I was 23, but I get really tired of Kennedy's severe lack of appreciation for her mother. I would give absolutely anything to have my mom back to nag and smother me. Apart from that, it's pretty standard for the genre.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wood stolen from a barn. An artist of very little skill dies under suspicious circumstances. Kennedy is again on the case.