Murder Adjacent #2: The Birthday Party Body - A Bellwether County Murder Mystery

Kit Hollis

Summary

Quirky Sleuths. Big Murders. Very Bad Alibis.

Tessa Bellamy can survive divorced parents, collapsing balloon arches, sugar-fueled children, and a magician with a temperament problem. Murder is new. When The Marvelous Magnus drops dead inside a giant trick present at a luxury birthday party, Heron Cove's wealthiest parents want the disaster handled quietly and Tessa wants everyone to stop lying in front of the balloon wall.

The adults remember arguments, grudges, money, and who was standing where. The children remember something stranger: Magnus "did the wrong bunny." Everyone else hears confused kid chatter. Tessa hears a performance that went off script.

With thirty frightened children, a room full of wealthy suspects, and a sheriff slowly discovering glitter on everything she owns, Tessa has to reconstruct the final magic trick before someone makes the truth disappear with the party favors.

Available since: 09/15/2026.

Print length: 352 pages.

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