OK - and I’ll probably read another Benni Harper mystery just to see if she gets more believeable - but this first foray was a little “flat” for me. I couldn’t help but compare Benni to China Bayles, Stephanie Plum and even Izzy Spellman (although not as funny as Izzy)  - and - in this first book - Benni misses the mark. The premise of a murder at a folk arts co-op/museum in a town north of Los Angeles has some promise. But Fowler mixes in the death of Harper’s husband and a loosely put together blackmail scheme that makes sense in the end - but isn’t flushed out enough. 

In the end - it isn’t clear to me if JD Freedman was covering up for his son - or if he (JD) was the one found wandering down the road in a drunken stupor. Did Jack swerve to avoid hitting JD and have an accident? Or was Carl in the car and walked away from the accident?