Author: Deb Richardson-Moore

Series: Branigan Powers Mystery

Publisher: Lion Fiction

Release Date: June 27, 2016

Rating: 4 1/2 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

A great combination of mystery and heart that results in a fun, entertaining story.

Branigan Powers is set to run a story on the tenth anniversary of one of the only unsolved murders in Grambling, Georgia. Too many people have stayed silent about what they know of the murder of wealthy Alberta Grambling Resnick and it is time for the truth to come out.  She was stabbed in her home, and as the case is reinvestigated, there turn out to be more suspects than originally thought.  Brannigan has to do some major digging to get her story and the truth out.  She turns to the homeless community for help knowing they are the one group of people in town that know far more than they are given credit for.  However, the more she digs, the more the people around her end up in danger and even dead.  Soon things start to hit a little too close to home and she must decide if continuing is worth the risk.

Sometimes it is nice to sit down with a fun story that isn’t too intense but is still able to keep the pages turning quickly. That was the case for me with The Cantaloupe Thief.  I enjoyed just about every aspect of the book.  The characters were fun, I especially enjoyed Malachi; he was a character that was just right for everything he found himself involved in.  Branigan has a twin brother and that relationship played out nicely.  The name of the book makes it an interesting draw, but there is so much more to it than that.  Early on I thought I had it pegged who the bad guy was, but I ended up changing my mind on that several times.  Even so, in the end was very pleased with the reveal.  There is a lot of back and forth from past to present to talk about the murder and the way it has gone unsolved.  Sometimes that can get a little confusing, but I thought the author did a very nice job of working that to tie things up nicely without anything being too over the top or unbelievable.  This was just a fun interesting read. I am looking forward to the next Branigan Powers Mystery!