Time heals all wounds…unless it doesn’t. In 1965, a young woman in love and a veil was kidnapped and found murdered in a small Missouri town. A priest took the fall, literally. But the FBI has now discovered a clue among the bodies found in Kansas and it’s time to take another look at a crime nobody wanted to investigate. And nobody wants to investigate now, least of all, Mercy Watts. She just … Watts. She just wants a vacation, not another problem, certainly not the cold case from hell. Greece is calling. A beach and drinks with little umbrellas are just what Mercy needs, but her family needs something else. Her beloved godmothers have asked for answers to the questions that have haunted them for over fifty years. Unfortunately, Mercy’s Great Aunt Miriam wants to forget everything from that time and demands that her niece forget it, too.
Mercy has always known that you do for family, but which family is now the question.
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I have read this whole series. The last one is really great, just like the complete series! Can’t wait until Mercy’s next mystery!!
Have Mercy!
Wow! Mercy is in the middle of a truly twisty mystery: 50 years ago a beloved nun was murdered and precious little was done to solve the crime. Maggie, the nun, was a dear friend of The Girls, and Sister Miriam, and they all still feel the pain of her loss. What might be Maggie’s St. Brigid medal is found in the Kansas serial killer’s ‘cemetery’. The FBI rookies make the connection between Sister Maggie’s murder and the medal and try to have Mercy’s aunt Miriam definitively identify the medal. For her own reasons, she refuses. Cue the blackmail of Mercy. The FBI places her on the ‘No-Fly’ list just as she is trying to leave for Greece for the second time; the first time Uncle Morty got her into a, uh, stinky situation…
Great story; there are ghosts, murders, a (gasp) apologetic Tommy Watts, a sweet Sister Clarence, a brave, heroic pocket dog, and Mercy kicks butt. Chuck is cool, too. Excellent entry in the series; you should read this book.
Wow, I loved this book so much was going on, it was hard to put it down. I really like Mercy Watts as a character she is so much fun and things never seem to go right for her but she keeps on trying or bullied into to trying. I just wish the series would be released as audio books as I would get them and they are the type of book you would listen to again and again, just for the fun factor. Very funny and a must read, who else would a ghost play tricks on?
Uncle Morty wants his girlfriend back and as Mercy has just been fired from her job she reluctant agrees to travel to Greece to talk to her. The problem is the FBI want to talk to her and add her to the no fly list, the only way to get of the list is to help them out and get Aunt Miriam to talk to them and identify a medal. Mercy has her work cut out for as if Aunt Miriam doesn’t want to do something then not even God can make her do it. The medal use to belong to a murdered nun and it sparks of an investigation that touches a lot of people’s hearts. Mercy is off on a road trip in a blizzard with a ex pro wrestler ‘Fats’, an innocent novice nun who needs to see the world a bit more and a grumpy mini dog and they are all staying in a haunted Hotel in a small town, where Mercy has already found the body of a young murdered girl. What could possible go wrong? And how many lives will finding out the truth behind the nuns death effect? Including two lives of people very close to her, her god parents Millicent and Murtle.
Just loved this book and can’t wait for the next book either the Mercy Watts series or the Stella Bleed series as they are great and tell a little bit more about the past or the present.
Wow, just wow. Small Time Crime is the 10th book in the outstanding Mercy Watts Mysteries series. It picks right up where book #9, Down and Dirty, left off and has a tie-in to Mercy Watts Short #4, Dry Spell. This could be a very short review: I could start and end with BUY THIS BOOK NOW. It’s a marvelous book in a marvelous series. I have read Mercy’s stories from the beginning and every single book is better than the last. No exceptions.
Is author A. W. Hartoin a time traveler? How does she so expertly weave all the people, places, things and times together so that it looks effortless and makes sense to the reader? You are caught up in the now, but the now is influenced by the then. And people are linked in interesting, and often dangerous, ways. There are paranormal elements in both Dry Spell and Small Time Crime, but instead of woo-woo the events are almost believable and normal.
The mystery in Small Time Crime switches back and forth in time from 1965 to the present and at times back to World War II, bringing young Bled Sisters and Aunt Miriam and Stella and Josiah Bled and others into the story. There is a full cast of characters, some silly, some funny, some quirky, some dangerous, a real variety. The one thing they have in common is their stories and the history mixed into the action hold your attention from beginning to end.
As usual we start with Poor Mercy. She’s just lost her job, her new name seems to be Smelly, and she has a broken arm. She is being harassed and threatened – again – both in person and online. And everyone is demanding her help. Uncle Morty wants her to go to Greece with him to win back his girlfriend Nikki. But he’s the reason she is now Smelly in the first place. Her godmothers, the Bled Sisters, want her to investigate the murder of a nun from 50 years ago, while her Aunt Miriam has forbidden her to do so. Plus Chuck wants her to move out of her little apartment close to her folks and get a house with him. He’s sending her listings, for heaven’s sake! But Mercy always wants to please family so off to St. Sebastian, Missouri she goes, with a pregnant Fats Licata along to protect her and a very naïve, unworldly Sister Clarence in tow. Throw in secrets dating back to 1965 (and maybe WWII), a massive snowstorm and some ghosts and the action, humor and danger are non-stop.
I knew I was back in the comfort zone with Mercy right at the start when she said, “Even the Marilyn Monroe imposters had to change up their acts, lest they be confused for me.” Throw in reminders of Wallace the Pug who liked to pee on Mercy’s feet, Spidermonkey the Hacker, the ominous Klinefeld Group, phone calls from her folks, and food from Aaron that sounds so delicious I want to stop reading and take a lunch break and you are in for another treat with this marvelous series.
I received an advance copy of Small Time Crime in exchange for a fair and honest review, but I always also buy the book and review and recommend it because I think everyone should read everything A. W. Hartoin writes. You can pick up anywhere in the series and read each book as a standalone, but you should go back and start at the beginning, because these books are so full of humor and heart and mystery, complex characters, depth and strong plots and details that connect to other details and other characters and other books . . . everything makes sense in the end – except for what you don’t know yet that leaves you anxiously awaiting the next book! The Mercy books also connect seamlessly to the Stella Bled series, another must-read. The more you read the more “Aha!” moments you will have. Thanks again to A. W. Hartoin for providing the copy of Small Time Crime – and for writing!
This series seriously get’s better with each story and when you also include Stella’s books as well A.W Hartoin weaves such a magnificent, mysterious tale that has spanned countries and decades all woven into a mysterious thrilling web of deceit, betrayal and so much more.
I have probably said best book ever with each new Mercy Watts mystery but I’m serious Small Time Crime was the BEST book in this series.