Each book in the series has had a different main location for our couple to flourish. The Other Side introduced us to the couple and showed us their home location working at Montgomery Prep while trying to solve the disappearance of a student. Last Chance Christmas gave us the couple visiting Chance's family for the holidays while trying to solve the mystery of some newly discovered love letters. Violet Among Thieves gives us one last location, following our lovely leads to Chance's sister's home in California for spring break where the couple has to figure out who broke into a safe and stole all the family jewelry. Every location gives the couple a chance to spend time outside of what is familiar, showing that they have the trust and compatibility to work in new surroundings without there being any unnecessary tension. Last Chance Christmas expanded the circle to people that Violet could consider family by introducing her to Chance's sister, Amanda, and his parents. After hitting it off with his sister, in this story Amanda insists on getting her brother and his new fiancée to come stay with her for a week. The world is familiar and lovely to step back into and it's easy to feel the comfort that these books evoke because of the fact that we love the leads so much that we will follow them anywhere. To spend time with them is enough but the fact that they work together to solve a mystery is just the cherry on top and I loved how Amanda accepted Violet so wholeheartedly into her life that she invited them to stay with her for as long as they wanted.
The characters are just as wonderful as they've always been. Violet is more confident this time around, having fun proving that she can fit in at Amanda's home when she's surrounded by people who want to look down on her. Chance is still the best partner ever and his belief in Violet makes my heart warm. I loved their back and forth and the spice between them is still fiery while their quiet moments together made me smile. I also loved the time we got to spend with Amanda and her husband Hiram, showing that Violet's family is expanding by having Amanda so quick to trust Violet with secrets and how much she wants to spoil Violet by showering her with gifts that she knows Violet would love. All of them together are wonderful which made the addition of Amanda's unwanted houseguests all the more jarring in effect. The three new secondary characters were rotten in different ways and their being in the book helped to highlight how healthy Violet and Chance are together compared to these other people.
As for the plot, it was fairly straightforward but the motivations behind the theft were ridiculous, and the sad part about it is I could definitely see how the reasoning could be part of someone's desperate scheme. I loved how Violet moved through the possibilities and how the four of them together worked through every scenario to explain the missing jewelry. I would have wanted a little more comeuppance on the page for the culprit but we do see some retribution come about so I'm very satisfied with that. The way this book ended though, it was a truly heartwarming way to come to the final pages of this series. In the end, I am so happy with how this book wrapped up. These books have become a bit of a comfort read for me and I'll be so happy when they are all together on my shelf of favorites.
Read this series if you like competent characters who love and support each other while solving mysteries. You can't go wrong with that combination.
Rating on my Scale: 10 Stars for this book and for the whole series. I can't wait to see what AJ Wynn writes next. In fact, let me make room on my shelf now for any and all new books by Wynn. Best to plan ahead in these types of situations.
My thanks to Behind the Pages and AJ Wynn for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.
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