When Marilyn’s cat destroys a critical college assignment, the incident seems like a real setback until news arrives that her friend Hugh has been arrested for the murder of Audrey, the sheriff’s daughter. Hugh was discovered unconscious in the same room as the body. Refusing to accept the accusation against Hugh, Marilyn commits to proving his innocence by turning an unused office into a working investigation space, and using an ability she has had since childhood: registering animal emotions in brief, precise bursts. As she reconstructs the events surrounding the party, she uncovers evidence that Hugh’s memory loss may not be accidental, and that Audrey’s relationships show reasonable motive. With pressure building from law enforcement and public opinion shifting, Marilyn gets closer to the truth behind Audrey’s death, but at the risk of her own safety.

C.C. Bolick’s Murder in a Red Dress is fabulous small-town crime fiction, with a twist. First, I love the animal angle. No protagonist in the world will ever compete with Marilyn in helping a terrified shelter dog with a new owner, because of her ability to sense its distress. After that, I'd read a whole series about Marilyn just folding red dresses, but Bolick still delivers a sophisticated murder mystery. The settings are almost characters themselves, and their descriptions are totally immersive, from a church interior with its wooden pews and echoing hall, to a mountain cabin under heavy rain that frames a heart-thumping confrontation. Hugh is offered moments of reprieve that also allow us into Bolick's world-building, like a museum tour where Hugh shares his grandmother’s collection. Marilyn's persistence and perspective are working overtime to save her friend and find the real killer for the person who has really lost everything: Audrey. Very highly recommended.

Murder in a Red Dress by C.C. Bolick follows Marilyn, a college student in Cherrytown, Virginia, who spends her time at her mom’s bakery and the local animal shelter. Marilyn actually has the strange ability to pick up on what animals are feeling, but her life is thrown off-balance when her lifelong friend, Hugh, is hauled off to jail. He has been accused of killing Audrey, the sheriff’s daughter, after she was found dead following a college party. Marilyn isn't about to sit back while Hugh takes the fall, so she sets up her own makeshift detective office right on Main Street. With her preacher father teaching her how to track alibis and look for motives, she starts digging into the complicated lives of everyone who knew Audrey, the girl in the red dress. Will Marilyn's animal abilities actually help her spot a human killer?

Murder in a Red Dress turned out to be a quick but captivating read. I love how C.C. Bolick built the small-town atmosphere without making it feel too cheesy. The mystery moves at a good pace, mostly because Marilyn is so desperate to keep Hugh from going to prison. The relationship between Marilyn and her cat, Cosmo, is very comical and entertaining. Cosmo is a clever pet, but in a way that feels very realistic for a cat owner. The way Marilyn balances her shift at the bakery and her shelter work while learning the ropes of being a private investigator keeps the plot engaging. Cherrytown has a lot of hidden drama under the surface, and the friction between the locals and the sheriff’s department adds a nice layer of conflict. If you want a mystery novel that has a little bit of a supernatural edge but keeps things light, give this one a read. You won't be disappointed.