Abandoned by Booklikes

Please note that I gave this book 4.5 stars, however, Goodreads does not allow for half stars so I rounded up to 5 stars on Goodreads.


Please don't read if you haven't read the first three books in this series. Spoilers will be revealed in some cases due to events in the previous three books.

The only reason why I gave this book a 4.5 stars was that we kind of left a loose thread in this book that I don't know if the author will follow back up on a later date or not. It was just kind of not referred to at all so one wonders how that will get tided up.

Lowcountry Bordello takes place a few months after the end of Lowcountry Boneyard. We now have Liz and Nate happily engaged to be married a few days before Christmas. Trying to tie up loose ends on their other cases, Liz finds herself getting involved when her best friend Olivia calls her telling her that her husband is dead in her aunt's bordello. With an able assist by her dead friend Colleen, Liz and Nate put the pieces together and figure out who was murdered and why, and how it all ties into Oliva's aunt's bordello.

It was nice to see Liz so settled and so ready to marry Nate. Readers of the series know that Nate is brother to Liz's ex-husband Scott and though it makes things sticky a bit that they are now engaged, Liz sees Nate as different from Scott as night and day. Due to a surprise at the ending, I can't wait to see how Liz and Nate's relationship changes again with the new information that we readers got.

The case was interesting, and in a couple of places a bit sad. And though this is a cozy mystery, I have to say this one was just as dark as the last book.

We do get some additional details on some characters that have been mentioned, but not seen since book #2 (mainly Michael, Liz's ex boyfriend from when she was a teenager) and Calista (Liz's client from book #2). I wish that we got more insight into Liz's family in these books. We just get the same old same old in some cases. Liz's father does some crazy, her mother is slightly disapproving and tells her to put on lipstick, her brother Blake is disapproving of her investigating cases and she spins lie after lie to him when she gets close to danger. I don't know if we can get a novella starring Merry (Liz's sister) or Blake, that would be nice.

We once again get some new characters in this one, we get a ghost that used to live at the Bordello, some women who are living a the Bordello, and their gentlemen friends who have paid a lot of money to keep the women secure there. We also get a glimpse at Nate's parents in this one. Though Nate's parents, more specifically his mother, are not fans of Liz, one wonders how the next book will showcase them. This book definitely does not show Nate's mom in a good light.

The writing was top notch and can I say funnier in this one than in previous books. I thought the flow really worked. It had to since the case had to be solved prior to Liz and Nate getting married. And I have to say I love that this one really shows them investigating together and we can see what a great team they make.

The setting of the lowcountry was once again shown in a great light, and seriously these books make me hungry for biscuits and red eye gravy. There is a lot of discussion of food in these books, and I am surprised that Susan M. Boyer has not included in recipes in the back yet.

The ending was sweet, but like I said, there was a minor loose thread in this one. I can say that this book does not end abruptly like books #1 and #2 though. I can't wait to see what further adventures Liz and Nate have in Stella Maris.