Leafing Through Pages – Margaritas & Murder (Murder, She Wrote # 24)

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Stars: 2 / 5

Recommendation: All in all a less than favoring book for me considering how careless the Buckleys were with Jessica’s safety, and how callous people were about the murdered person; and above all the title has less to do with the plot and more to do with the setting of the plot.

Margaritas & Murder is the 24th novel in the long-running Murder She Wrote series co-written by Donald Bain & fictional writer Jessica Fletcher. It was first published on September of 2006. Jessica heads to Mexico for a much needed R&R with her favorite publisher Vaughn Buckley & his wife Olga. However when Vaughn gets kidnapped and a murder takes place in the process, Jessica puts her life on the line to find Vaughn despite many friends of Buckleys who don’t appreciate her curiosity.

This is my take on the series of books written by a plethora of authors and Jessica Fletcher (fictional author) based on the 80s and 90s popular American crime drama television series Murder, She Wrote. These books are ghost written by Donald Bain and fictional author Jessica Fletcher for the first 43 books until 2015. Then Donald Bain wrote these with Renee Paley Bain and Jon Land for four more books. After Donald Bain passed away in 2017, Jon Land alone took the baton and continued with Jessica Fletcher for 5 more books until 2020. Starting 2021 the series was picked by Terrie Farley Moran again pairing with the fictional writer Jessica Fletcher. As of 2023, 56 books have been written in this series. They are all written in first person narration.

The book put me off at the beginning itself. While heading to San Miguel de Allende (SMA), Jessica and her driver get mugged by a road-side bandit. In the first place her driver doesn’t arrive at Leon as promised by the Buckleys. And when she tries to reach them they are not at home but at a party. Knowing how dangerous it was to travel in the night from Leon to SMA shouldn’t the Buckleys have taken extra precaution to get Jessica home safely. Instead they don’t bother to come home until it is too late when she gets mugged.

On top of it, Olga pushes Jessica into the path of a couple whom Olga doesn’t like either. And she presses Jessica to entertain them and humor her. Not to discount the lengths Jessica goes to find Vaughn. I found it very forgiving of Jessica to help her friends when they didn’t bother for her safety in the first place.

Because of these reasons the rest of plot was not enjoyable for me although the murder mystery was intriguing combining rebels and revolutionaries with poverty in Mexico and the constant muggings by the bandits.

Jessica and Olga use again about the technology and its evolvement, the onset of DVD raze and other improvements. Little would she or the author guess that in almost 18 years the craze for DVDs would reduce as streaming options increase.

Somewhere in the middle of the book I could guess at least one of the participants in the kidnapping and murder. But when the truth came out it was indeed a surprise. Biggest missing factor was the Margaritas. Only a couple scenes show them and even in those Jessica declines to have them. I wonder why the author titled this book as “Margaritas & Murder”. Perhaps the setting was Mexico, so he used Margaritas in the title!

Then there was less caring for the murdered person. No one really spoke much about them except for Jessica who tries to help that person’s son to an extent. The saving grace for this book for me to complete as the sassiness of Jessica, and her penchant to play tourist despite her attempt to solve the murder and rescue her friend.

All in all a less than favoring book for me considering how careless the Buckleys were with Jessica’s safety, and how callous people were about the murdered person; and above all the title has less to do with the plot and more to do with the setting of the plot.

Spoiler Alerts:

1. Plot Reveals:
   1. Friends of Buckleys in SMA: Jim Sullivan & Deb Gerrity, own a gallery, and their daughter Emilie; Lea Barette, yoga instructor; Woodrow “Woody” Manheim & his son Philip; Cathie Harrison & Eric Gewirtz, their son Robbie and daughter Jena; Dino & Roberto Fisher; Sarah Christopher, artist; Guy Kovach & his wife Nancy, stockbroker; Donna & Alfred Hoffmannm, caterers.
   2. Other Characters: Maria Elena, Buckleys housekeeper; Hector, Maria’s brother;  Javier Rivera, Chief of Police; Captain Igancio Guttierrez; Raphael Sampaio, mayor; Guillermo Sylva, editor of the local weekly newspaper; Father Alfredo.
2. Sub Plots:
   1. Friends of Jessica Fletcher: Dr. Seth Hazlitt, long-time friend in Cabot Cove, Maine; George Sutherland, senior inspector with Scotland Yard; Morton “Mort” Metzger, Cabot Cove Sherriff and his wife Adele /  Maureen?; Eve Simpson, realtor friend working at Cabot Cove Realty; Sam Booth, mayor of Cabot Cove; Ethan Cragg, Cabot Cove’s chief town elder.
   2. Literary contacts and friends: her publisher Vaughan Buckley of Buckley House, his fashion model wife Olga Buckley and their dogs Sadie and Rose; Harry McGraw, her private eye friend; Matt Miller, her literary agent & his wife Susan; Paulette, Matt’s assistant.
   3. Other Characters appear frequently: Josh, the mailman; Jed Richardson, only bush pilot for Cabot Cove and owner of Jed’s Flying Service, and his wife Alicia; Mara, restaurant owner of Mara’s Luncheonette; Hank Weathers, a homeless war vet; Seamus McGilray, manager of Hill House Hotel; Richard “Dick” Mann, Fire Chief; Charlene Sassi, a baker; Susan Shevlin, travel agent and her husband Jim who is the Mayor of Cabot Cove; Professor Donskoy; Roberta Dougherty, bookstore owner; Richard Koser, photographer, and his wife MaryJane; Barbara DePaoli, Chamber of Commerce’s secretary; Anthon Colarusso, dentist; Beth and Peter Mullin, owners of flower shop Old Tyme Floral; Sam Davis, investment advisor; Jack Decker, publisher of Cabot Cove’s monthly magazine; Peter Eder, Cabot Cove’s symphony orchestra; Bob Daros, owns Heritage Fuel; Tim Purdy, treasurer of chamber of commerce and historian and president of  Cabot Cove’s historical society, also an investment advisor; Pat Hitchcock, Cabot Cove’s popular nurse and teacher?; Gloria Watson, Wendell’s mother; Joseph “Joe” Turco, an attorney; Marcia Davis, costume designer; David and Jim Raneri, owners of Charles Department Store; Ralph Mackin, town attorney; Ed and Joan Lerner, retirees; Brenda Brody, copy editor of Cabot Cove Insider; Doug Treyz, dentist, and his wife Tina; Jack and Marilou Decker, publishers of Cabot Cove Insider; Peter and Roberta Walters, owners of the radio station; Horace Teller, publisher of Cabot Cove News; Doris Sitar, assistant manager at Cabot Cove Savings Bank; Dmitri, owner of local taxi company; Phil Wick, field manager of the phone company; John St. Clair, professor of business law at Cabot Cove Community College; Dr. Jennifer “Jenny” Countryman, Seth’s partner; Reginald “Reggie” Weems, insurance agent.
   4. Sheriff Metzger’s office staff & other law enforcement: Deputy Andy Jenks; Deputy Jack; Rookie Wendell Watson; Deputy Harold; Deputy Jerry; Alfred Gillo, medical examiner; Judge Kaplan; Marie Poutre, dispatcher.
   5. Jessica Fletcher’s family: Grady Fletcher, nephew that she and her late-husband Frank raise, his wife Donna and child Frank.
   6. We continue to see Mort Metzger’s wife being called as Maureen. But she was named Adele in the TV show…and also in the 50th book, A Time for Murder, she was back to Adele. Not sure when Bain changed it back to Adele since I have a few more books to go before I reach the 50th book, but perhaps the readers made him change it back.
   7. From the 9th book, Murder on the QE2: Mary Ward has been a prominent character in this book. Will she resurface again?
   8. From the 10th book, Murder in Moscow:
      1. There is still no resolution as to who or how Ward Wenington was killed in D.C. and why Vladislav “Vlady” Staritova was killed in Russia. What was the connection?
      2. Alexandra Kozhina disappears at the end of the plot. And will she surface in another book?
   9. In the 50th book, A Time for Murder, Jessica is shown at Hill House, Cabot Cove’s very own Inn due to a fire at her Victorian home at 698 Candlewood Lame. I wonder if the 49th book, Murder in Red, has anything to do with her house getting caught fire which almost killed her.
   10. From the 51st book, The Murder of Twelve:
       1. Author Land gives considerable mystery to Seamus McGilray’s character. I wonder if he resurfaces in a future book.
       2. Towards the end of the book, Mort jokes that Jessica should run for mayor. Hmm…something to look forward to I suppose.
3. Grammatical / Character / Plot / Geographical / Historical / Mythological Errors:
   1. On Pg.54, Line 13, an extra “in” is in the line.
   2. On Pg. 58, Line 7, there is an extra “the” in the line.