BOOK REVIEW | Another Stab at Life
Another Stab at Life
by Anita Higman
Bailey Walker has suffered quite a few losses. In the midst of her downer moments, she receives an unexpected inheritance gift – her grandmother’s dilapidated mansion. The now former realtor decides to move in with the intentions of fixing up the monstrous house. Upon her arrival, some not so friendly neighbors have left her some gruesome surprises. Not sure what to do, Bailey decides to stick it out since she doesn’t have anyplace else to go.
Unknown to her, one of her neighbors was summoned by her late Grandma Minny to look after her. Being an independent woman, Bailey isn’t too sure about accepting Maxwell Summer’s assistance. But as strange events keep occurring in the mansion, it turns out, it might not be a bad idea to trust Maxwell.
Or should she? She’s seems to be falling for the bachelor. Which is probably what Grandma had planned for her all along?
Another Stab at Life is a Heartsong Presents Mysteries book. I’ve been a member of this club for a few months and have found it hard to keep up with all the books. This autographed book came to me for review, so I decided to take a "stab" at it. No pun intended. 
The storyline of an old dilapidated house with annoying circumstances is familiar, but what makes this story special is the main character Bailey. She manages to wind up in some situation that are pretty spectacular and also knock her out of her comfort zone. There are quite a few laugh-out loud scenes especially when Maxwell is involved.
Now a few things that threw me. I know cozy mysteries are generally short as far as word count, but I did think some events moved incredibly fast, in particular the relationship between Bailey and Maxwell. The author did address the speed of the relationship’s development in Bailey’s thoughts, so that smoothed the wrinkle out my eyebrow, making it a little more believable.
There were some appearances of characters toward the last half of the book, I wasn’t so sure were necessary. I know you are suppose to throw something “crazy” at the main character, but it kind of took focus off what I thought was the main plot. I also thought the ending wrapped up too neatly, but I guess I was expecting a little something more.
Other than those tidbits, the humor in Another Stab at Life definitely tickled my funny bone. Quite a few of the Heartsong Presents Mysteries are book series, but this one appears to be a stand-alone.
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