Murder at the Courthouse: A Hidden Springs Mystery

Murder at the Courthouse by A.H. Gabhart is the first book in the Hidden Springs Mysteries. Miss Willadean Dearmon goes to the courthouse every morning. This morning she walks up the steps and sees a man slumped against a pillar. Miss Willadean immediately goes to the sheriff’s office to report a drunk man on the steps. Deputy Sheriff Michael Keane investigates and discovers the man has been shot (and he is dead). Michael will have his work cut out for him to find the culprit. He will have to deal with nosy townspeople, a blowhard detective (who is thankfully sick in the hospital), and the editor of the Hidden Springs Gazette. Who is the dead man and why was he is Hidden Springs? Will Michael be able to find the culprit before anyone else gets hurt?

Michael is also working to keep Anthony Blake on the straight and narrow. Anthony is on probation and must attend school every single day. Michael notices that Anthony was not in school on the day the man was discovered on the courthouse steps. Michael is determined to help this young man. Anthony lives with his aunt since the disappearance of his mother ten years ago. No one has seen or heard from Anthony’s mother in all that time. Does Anthony know anything about the murder (is that why he was seen near the courthouse)?

Murder at the Courthouse is a Christian mystery series. It is a slow paced novel that gets more interesting toward the end of the novel. There are a lot of characters in the novel and it can be hard to keep them all straight (there are so many townspeople and all of them are nosy). I give Murder at the Courthouse 3.25 out of 5 stars (it did get more interesting). I also liked the mystery in the book. It was very easy to solve, but I liked all the different parts. I will be curious to read the next book in the Hidden Springs Mysteries.

I received a complimentary copy of Murder at the Courthouse from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.