I'm going to try to describe the problems I had with the book without revealing any (major) spoilers, so please bear with me if things get a bit awkward in my phrasing. Thanks in advance!

In writing workshops we were always told to say something constructive up front, so ... the setting is well done, and I found the plot, though eventually quite convoluted, moved along well in terms of pacing. The characters on the other hand were rather a mess.

Mr. Everett and Grace's wedding (not really a spoiler, IMHO) doesn't really add a lot to the plot, but doesn't detract either. They're their usual selves. No issue there.

Ginny, Tricia's assistant, does turn into a weepy mess as noted in other reviews. Perhaps that was intended as some sort of "foreshadowing" of later events, but her poormouthing over the cost of the house did get tedious.

Angelica actually came across as more likable here - perhaps because she runs two businesses, and has a book under contract, while Tricia moans about how hard she works (when not taking time off at the drop of a hat to play detective). Moreover, Angelica comes across as caring for others, not as self-absorbed as she'd come off previously.

Much is made of Stewart Page, a New Hampshire philanthropist with a Chappaquiddick-like episode in his past, after which he's devoted his life to Good Works. His main contribution to the story seems to give Tricia a specific piece of information, though otherwise has little direct bearing on the story. Significant space is invested in Tricia's hounding him for what amounts to a relatively minor contribution to the plot. Either he's being set up for the next installment, or he was intended to have a larger role, and then got lost in the plot shuffle?
No, he's not the killer, but that's established early enough on that I don't feel I'm spoiling things - he seems more a red herring, getting discarded partway through. He is noble and likable. Her spats with his bodyguard/assistant are tedious.

Eugenia, the diner waitress, and her family are featured in prominent roles this time, as was Nikki the pastry chef in the previous book. Not much to say about them, except that her mother's description of the town's new food bank procedures flummoxed me when she said, "We take non-perishables up to two years past their expiration dates. They don't taste as fresh, but they're edible." Ummmm ..... I don't think so! They become so heavily involved that I'll say no more about them specifically, except that, yes, they do qualify as "cardboard" characters.

Sheriff Adams herself does not appear at all. Her (assistant) Captain Baker is sent to investigate the discovery of Pammy's body (the third one Tricia has found in about a year in the same small town!); presumably the sheriff realized Tricia was involved and washed her hands of trying to deal with her. Captain Baker is soon to see why for himself as Tricia interferes again and again until he blows his stack, Tricia becomes defensive ... and he backs down and apologizes! He is a sensitive man, whose hobby is ... baking! He reads a lot (though not mysteries), and is single. He's also proud that he presses his shirts himself. We are given two descriptions of his features - the green eyes with which Tricia is smitten, and the "nice buns" noticed by her sister. A spoiler I cannot resist: Near the end, he is surprised when Tricia spontaneously kisses him rather passionately (in front of others no less) - I was surprised he did not push her away in horror.

Tricia ... whom I came to regard already as an unreliable narrator with her "decision" at the end of the first story that Sheriff Adams disliked her (paraphrasing) because the man she secretly wanted was so immediately struck by Tricia's hot-ness that her delusion that she could ever be desirable was shattered causing bitterness. Ho hum. Still, the audio narrator gave Adams a nasty enough edge that I was willing to accept that perhaps she really did go out of her way to be mean.

So, what does Tricia do in this book? She consoles weepy Ginny, buying a small fridge and microwave (via Craigslist); now Ginny can eat in the store back room rather than shivering in her car. Tricia herself is independently wealthy, but why say ... order from Best Buy in a few minutes when she can get cheaper used models less efficiently? She hounds Page on two occasions (a half day each where Ginny has to work the store alone). She spends an evening "dumpster diving" with the local Freegans (Pammy had become involved with them during her two weeks in Stoneham), has conversations with Frannie at Angelica's bookstore about how to deal with a new cat (this subplot prompts a ridiculous, Drama Empress outburst from her sister), washes dishes and squeezes spinach dry for her sister (different visits), and ... oh yes ... she has various run-ins with Captain Baker before molesting him.

More details would need a spoiler, but the average reader should feel annoyed that the denouement regarding Pammy's death proved quite bizarre - almost impossible to predict as there weren't any clues leading to it - just a scene in Haven't Got a Clue involving Tricia, Angelica, Ginny, three other people ... and a gun.

Oh yes ... many folks disliked the goose poop distractions in the previous book. Here we have a mad vandal smashing pumpkins right and left instead. Tricia, looking out her window, identifies the perp (to herself) one night, which gets filed away until later in the story. Not long before the scene described above, she confronts the person, almost literally saying, "Hmmmm ... I have some down time, let me resolve that issue now (before I inevitably get threatened by the killer and rescued.)" She's quite nasty about it, while the vandal has a hissyfit meltdown.

I plan on reading the next (final?) book to see whether it's possible for Tricia to become even more self-centered, and whether some of the loose ends here have gotten tied up at all.