Lila used to run a medical supply company with her husband, Ryan. But after having Bea, he encouraged her to stay home. She enjoyed being a full-time mother, taking care of Bea and becoming active at Meritt Academy, where both she and Ryan were alumni. Lila tried not to complain when Ryan worked late or said he had a company function to attend. Even after she found a flip phone with an email reminding him to meet at a hotel, she stayed quiet. He sheltered her from what was happening at the company until it was too late.
With nowhere to go, Lila takes an offer from her mother’s boyfriend, Stanley. His mother, Gloria, who recently died, was living in an upscale home for elderly people. He tells Lila she and Bea can live there while she cleans out the apartment to ready it for a sale. With no other plan, she agrees.
The Primrose does not look like a typical retirement home. The five stories are topped by a peaked roof and circular tower. The rose-colored brick building has arched windows and cream stone trim. The lobby is luxurious, with overhead chandeliers, marble floors, plush rugs, with the walls covered with gold damask wallpaper.
The tenants of the facility are a quirky bunch. Several of the residents begin drinking Manhattans at 10 a.m. The president of the building’s board, Ruth, takes an instant dislike to Lila and her young daughter and threatens to have them evicted. The manager, Susanna, is more sympathetic, but urges Lila to keep Bea under control.
Managing Bea has been a challenge for Lila since Ryan left. She was expelled after five incidents at Meritt where she acted out, the last when she threw a book that hit a teacher. While the head of school is sympathetic to Bea’s situation, she feels it’s best that Lila enroll her daughter in another school. Now that they are in Richmond, Lila finds a public school, Liberty Falls Elementary, for Bea. A new school, however, is not what changes Bea’s attitude about her new home. It’s the idea that she and Lila can join forces to solve a 20 year-old murder.
Sophie Kent was only 16 when she was found dead in a Primrose apartment where she was living with her grandfather, Chris, mother, Helene, and sister, Alice. Although there had been a series of robberies in the upscale apartment building, the thief was never found. Did that person kill Sophie? Or was someone else guilty? Even though the police investigated, the case remains open. When Chris dies, his lawyer announces that the old man had set up a $2 million award for anyone who can find out who killed Sophie.
Bea, an avid fan of Murder, She Wrote, encourages Lila to mount an investigation. While Lila admits that $2 million will go a long way towards turning their lives around, she doesn’t believe they have enough experience to tackle such a challenge. But when two elderly residents, Evelyn, who says she was living in the building when Sophie died and knows a lot about everyone who lives there, and Jasper, a retired police detective, offer to help, Lila has no choice but to agree.
Stacy Hackney’s The Primrose Murder Society will certainly delight fans of Jessica Fletcher and remind them of other mother-daughter teams like The Gilmore Girls. Hackney nails Bea, probably because her other books were written for 8 to 12 year-olds. She also creates likable charters with the retirees who live in the apartment building. There’s a romantic angle with Lila meeting a newspaper reporter who is writing about Sophie’s murder.
Along the way, Lila becomes tougher, no longer putting up with her condescending mother and her insulting mother-in-law. She’s ready to move on and with Bea, Evelyn, and Jasper along for the ride. The next adventure in the series should be just as engaging.
The Primrose Murder Society
Stacy Hackney
Top Bigstock photo by Frimufilms
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