cover image Tattooed to Death

Tattooed to Death

Heather Redmond. Severn, $28.99 (224p) ISBN 978-0-7278-8951-5

At the outset of Redmond’s fast, fun sequel to 2020’s Journaled to Death featuring vlogger Mandy Meadows, a barista at the University of Seattle Hospital coffee bar, nurse Reese O’Leary-Sett, Mandy’s friend and fellow vlogger, huffs into the bar proclaiming that she could kill the hospital’s new massage therapist, Coral Le Charme (“Worst massage ever,” she says). A few hours later, Mandy finds Coral’s body in the hospital parking lot—on her stomach is a series of black bullseye tattoos. Reese soon lands in jail, and Mandy resolves to find the true culprit. Dysfunctional families, dodgy meditation gurus, and a potential stalker stud the plot with potential motives and suspects. Meanwhile, Mandy deals with her child support-dodging ex-husband, her blossoming attraction to the handsome homicide cop who rents her basement apartment, and the fact that her 15-year-old daughter is growing up. Redmond strikes a good balance between Mandy’s crime solving and personal life. Readers will look forward to spending more time with this resourceful heroine. Agent: Agent: Laurie McLean, Fuse Literary. (Jan.)