Reviewed by Kayti Nika Raet for Readers' Favorite

A Bad Reputation is the latest Madeleine Maclin mystery by Jane Tesh, starring former beauty queen turned artist and private eye. In A Bad Reputation, Wendall Clarke becomes the talk of the town when he comes back to the small town of Celosia, North Carolina to open an art gallery. But the grand opening quickly grinds to a halt when Wendall is found dead. Though a popular man in his youth, Wendall has made more than a few enemies, including a furious ex-wife, spurned local artists, and a competing business owner. Juggling the case as well as a possible pregnancy, Madeleine also has to keep her husband Jerry, a former con man, from being lured into the dark side by one not-so-honorable Honor Perkins. A charming novel written with wit and aplomb, A Bad Reputation by Jane Tesh will keep you guessing as Madeleine races to solve the mystery.

Even though I usually don't like reading books in the middle of a series, A Bad Reputation was so well written and enjoyable that I didn't care at all. It's a really fun read with great characters and a cozy little Southern community. It was really enjoyable and the mystery kept me guessing. Madeleine and Jerry are such a cute couple and I like how they both use aspects of their pasts to help solve the mystery. I also like how that, even though their pasts may seem totally different from each other, it's taught both of them how to spot a fake smile and the suspects do a lot of fake smiling in this book.