Review – George Washington Stepped Here

Karen Maxwell, recently divorced mother of two pre-teens, is tired of performing all the thankless jobs that keeps her messy brother’s private investigations business running. She longs for an opportunity to do some investigating on her own. When he offers her the chance to go undercover as a soccer mom in search of a thief, she leaps at the chance. Even if pretending to be a soccer mom doesn’t take a very creative effort to portray.

Karen jumps into her work assuming the role of a volunteer at the 1776 House, the scene of the crime. She soon discovers that the other volunteers are struggling over the authenticity of notes penned on a leather chair seat and the house’s claim to fame. These notes were supposedly written by George Washington and are the very item that has been stolen.

Karen discovers the undercover assignment isn’t as easy as she’d hoped and figuring out who took the notes is no easy task. Many of the volunteers believe the notes are a fake and want them removed from the house. Any one of them could have taken the prized possession. Oh, and one of the volunteers, handsome blacksmith Brian Kieffer, could have stolen the Taj Mahal as far as Karen is concerned as she is struggling to see beyond his good looks.

This is the first Heartsong Mystery in the Karen Maxwell Mystery series by K.D. Hays, and am I glad it’s only the first so I have a few more adventures with the quirky, clumsy Karen in her investigating adventures. Hays has penned a very likeable, funny character in Karen, and mixed suspense with an enjoyable romance. The family dynamic between Karen and her children is so realistic it is priceless. And if this isn’t enough reason to read George Washington Stepped Here and the following sequels, once you meet the cheating ex-husband, you’ll definitely want to read on in the hopes that he gets his due.