A touch of nostalgia, a murder, and good friends. When a former colleague is implicated in his neighbor’s demise, Sheridan Hendley returns to Cold Creek to prove his innocence. Annoying as Max can be, she can’t imagine the quirky professor is capable of murder. Unfortunately, not everyone shares her opinion. Of course, it doesn’t help that Max threatened his neighbor in a public place soon before … before the man was murdered. Or that the victim’s drug shipments had a habit of turning up on Max’s doorstep.
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Dollycas’s Thoughts
This series is a spinoff of the author’s Cold Creek Series and the first book I have read in either series but I quickly caught on to Professor Sheridan Hendley going back to Cold Creek to help her colleague caught up in the murder investigation of his neighbor. Max did have a public argument with the victim but Sheridan knows there is no way this man would murder anyone. Annoying, yes! Over the top, you bet! but murder no way.
The mystery also seems to tie into an old case Sheridan and her husband, Detective Brett McMann investigated, so there are a lot of twists and backtracking to bring the cases together. Sheridan and Brett make a great team and work very well together. They have built a real trust between them that assume happened over all the previous stories. It was interesting to follow along with them step by step.
As a side note, I really enjoy that Sheridan volunteers at the Clover Hills Pets & Paws Animal Rescue. It makes her more believable and gives her character more depth. It is also something she can share with her step-daughter, Maddie.
A college town is always an interesting setting with many options for murders and mysteries. I found Sheridan’s place as a visiting professor at the small college intriguing on its own. In her position, she is left out of some of the college politics but still must work jovially with all the staff, which brings a little extra drama.
I enjoyed Old Friends and New, Another Murder very much and hope to go back and read the first two books in this series.
Old Friends and New, Another Murder by Christa Nardi has Professor Sheridan Hendley helping former colleague and quirky professor, Max beat a murder wrap. Max had a loud argument with the victim before his death and he has been less helpful with Detective Brett McMann and Detective James Farby. Can Sheridan help locate the killer? Old Friends and New, Another Murder is the third novel in A Sheridan Hendley Mystery series. I believe it is best if the series is read in order. I had not had the opportunity to read the first two books and I felt I was missing information. Old Friends and New, Another Murder is easy to read with friendly characters. I like the university setting which is unusual for a cozy mystery. We get a glimpse at faculty life and the work a Visiting Assistant Professor (Sheridan’s position) does at Millicent College. Max Bentley is a quirky science professor who is very protective of his work. I can see why the police suspected him. The mystery relates back to a previous crime Sheridan and her husband, Detective Brett McMann investigated. It seems that drugs at high school and college campuses are a problem in the area. I like how Brett and Sheridan work together and share information. He appreciates her assistance and input. I was happy that the mystery was completely wrapped up by the end of the book. It is nice that Sheridan has a good relationship with her stepdaughter, Maddie who is in high school. Sheridan volunteers at Clover Hills Pets & Paws (dog rescue). I like that this was featured in the story. I wanted to adopt all the animals. Old Friends and New, Another Murder is a charming story with adorable animals, choral chaos, drug delinquencies, a peculiar professor, and matrimonial merriment.
This review is for the audio book.
I enjoyed this book. This is book three in the series, so like the title suggests we have come to know and love the characters in this series over the course of the books. I especially like the time spent at the animal shelter with the dogs and the quirky humans, which makes this series so much fun and the reason I keep coming back. The mystery was interesting, if a bit complicated with all the different motives but it all gets sorted out in the end, nicely. I do think it helps to work your way through the series because past cases and characters are mentioned and only a slight background is given on them. Looking forward to the next mystery.
When a body is found in the woods, Brett is called in but things turn more complicated when it turns out he is more than just a lost hiker. He is Max’s neighbour, a man he publicly argued with days before the murder. Max is an old college friend of Sheridan’s and he is convinced he is about to be arrested and the only one now can calm him down is Sheridan. Max is more worried about his research than the fact a man is dead which isn’t helping the situation. Then a strange package arrives while the police are carrying out a search and the sniffer dog goes mad. Could drugs be behind the motive? Sheridan is in the right place when the search for drugs spreads to the local schools and collages but can she ask the right questions to find the answers? Especially when she is in an accident and ends up on crutches, can she out fun the killer?
I liked the narrator. She helped to make the story captivating and enjoyable.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review
I really enjoyed reading Old Friends and New, Another Murder (Sheridan Hendley Mystery). It’s the third book in the Sheridan Hendly Mystery series which is a spin-off of The Cold Creek Mysteries. Though I am completely new to Sheridan and friends, once I got some of the characters sorted, I could follow the story just fine. The new friends are easier to keep track of than the old, but you’ll catch on.
Since this is a cozy mystery, you know that the main character is going to get mixed up in murder or mayhem or both! In this one, Sheridan gets involved because she’s got to calm her old friend Max down when he thinks he’s going to be accused of murdering his neighbor. He’s like The Absent Minded Professor, so Sheridan knows he isn’t capable of murdering anyone. Throughout the story, Max is still worried, though Sheridan keeps assuring him he’s not a suspect. How does she know this? She’s married to a detective, of course!
In spite of the fact that Max is not a suspect, Sheridan is still involved in the case because she’s filling in as a temporary professor. Designer drugs play a big part in this case, and since these drugs show up at schools, Sheridan hears things. Then they find out that the drugs are showing up at the high school too. By following the clues, the case is solved.
I enjoyed the setting of Old Friends and New, Another Murder. It made me want it to be fall even though we haven’t even had summer! Another aspect of the book that I really enjoyed was the animal shelter and the characters who are involved with it. I’ll let you discover more about a very quirky character.
Enjoy this fun cozy mystery!
college, college-town, detective, amateur-sleuth, law-enforcement, drugs-issues, murder, murder-investigation, family-dynamics, family, friendship, cozy-mystery*****
Sheridan is a temporary adjunct professor of psychology in a small local college, her husband is a local police detective, and there is a teenaged daughter. There’s also a local animal shelter that plays a big part in everyone’s lives. Sheridan has been involved in sleuthing a murder in the past and a lot of people are aware of this, so when husband is called out on the murder of a local businessman in the park the madness begins. There’s the paranoid/excitable scientist friend who makes life interesting, questions about the dead man’s business, and it seems that there is a drug supplier who is peddling designer drugs in the local schools as well as the college. Well done!
Voice artist Jeanne Pilgrim Mayo is excellent at making the differences in characters clear as well as adding more reality to the story itself.