Murder Before I Do by Rosie A Point and Charles Timmerman

Being confined to the house by a double whammy of flu and ice storm sure has made me appreciate books like this even more than usual!

The third in the Cranberry Creek Word Search mystery series finds our heroine, bookstore owner Abby Jones getting ready for the wedding of her best friend, baker Rose Turner. As maid of honor, Abby has been pretty busy, and is now looking forward to the welcome dinner for the relatives of Rose and her intended Paul Blakely, who’ve been trickling into town for the festivities.

While the Turner side is all in for the celebrations, Paul’s guests prove to be a little pricklier than expected. During dinner at The Barn, Abby has a front row seat to the tensions simmering below their pleasant surfaces. But things get really bad when a sudden power outage strikes. Abby goes looking for help… only to find the best man bludgeoned to death in another room.

Despite her sheriff’s deputy boyfriend having a dim view of meddlers in his investigation, Abby isn’t about to let anything as awful as the cloud of an unsolved murder hang over her best friend’s wedding. Will she be able to figure whodunnit before anyone else gets hurt?

The mystery in Murder Before I Do is far tighter than it was in the prior book in the series, making for a more satisfying experience for my puzzle-loving brain. I also enjoyed how the first word search lulls you into a sense of ease before ramping up the difficulty on the next one (short words are the hardest to find!) Both mystery and puzzles are, however, scrupulously fair play. The final, almost bonus, puzzle was extra charming as well, accompanying a sweet conclusion to the story.

I also want to shout out Anna Vehling’s adorable interior illustrations, both here and throughout the series. I’m not sure how many are her own design and how many come from stock images, but they have a delightful overall effect. The depictions of Abby’s cat Reggie are even more striking in teal than they were in the color schemes of prior books, IMO.

Murder Before I Do by Rosie A Point and Charles Timmerman was published yesterday January 27 2026 by Adams Media, and is available from all good booksellers, including