When personal trainer Sarah Jones moves to Minneapolis, Minn., after a broken engagement, she's thrilled to find a group of women who all share her name. But in Kathleen West's twisty, hilarious fourth novel, the Sarahs--including a teenager, a yarn-bomber, a local Federal Reserve executive, and a crafty con artist--learn that making friends can be murder.
Soon after Sarah (known as "Thirty" since the women all go by their ages) joins the group, one of the other Sarahs--the high-powered banker--is found dead under a bridge. With the help of George, a rookie FBI agent who's keeping his own secrets, Thirty and her fellow Sarahs set out to solve the murder. Because they're rank amateurs--and one of them is a killer--the investigation quickly goes off the rails, leading Thirty to wonder if they'll ever catch the culprit, or if their antics will get Seventeen (the smart-mouthed mastermind of their group) expelled.
West (Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes) assembles plot threads involving dark family secrets, a tentative new romance, the dead woman's teen daughters, and a stern nun with an unexpected past. When George takes Thirty to the camp his family owns, she learns about a long-ago cold case with a surprising connection to the present one. The Sarahs break numerous rules of crime solving and friendship, but they still manage to navigate both with humor and heart. Making Friends Can Be Murder is a highly enjoyable ride for mystery lovers, Midwesterners, and fans of quirky women with unusual hobbies. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams