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Book Review of Anxious in Nevada (A Midlife Crisis Mystery)

Anxious in Nevada (A Midlife Crisis Mystery)
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Dollycas's Thoughts

50-year-old Holly Parker has a long bucket list and she has finally decided to start checking items off of it. At the top of the list was visiting all 50 states so when she found a deal on a flight to Las Vegas along with a deal on a hotel she booked her trip.

On her flight, the man next to her fell asleep but chatting with the woman next to him made the trip go pretty fast. She never thought that a chance meeting would lead to finding a dead body and being involved in a murder investigation. That was definitely not on her bucket list.

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Holly Parker is a strong independent woman taking control of her life. She is also way too nice. Her new "best friend" Christy is the fiancée of the deceased and looks to Holly to help her deal with the police, her grief, and her fiancée's family. That family is something else. This trip to Nevada was not in any way the vacation she imagined but she just couldn't get away from these people or being questioned by the police.

The mystery was pretty straightforward but the interactions between the characters were hilarious. I felt so bad for Holly getting wrapped up with a family that was so dysfunctional but the author put humor in every place she could. The deceased mother was a terrible woman with her iron thumb on her family. You truly never knew what would happen next with her around.

The setting of Las Vegas was fun. Holly was befriended by an employee of the casino, Peggy, who tried her best to get Holly out to have some fun on her vacation. Holly did have a small daily budget for gambling, she just needed to figure out how to do that. Peggy also took her to see some interesting sites and that led to Peggy getting involved with the bizarre family too.

Anxious in Nevada was a delightfully lighthearted fast read with some crazy characters. I read the book all in one evening and enjoyed it very much. I love the mid-life crisis theme and look forward to reading more books in this series. It seems there are 49 future trips in Holly's future.