Rebecca finds the request odd, especially under the circumstances, but agrees, especially when Meigs asks her to keep her ears open on the committee which might give him a clue as to who killed Lacy.  Now Rebecca finds herself interviewing the last two candidates for assistant pastor as she tries to negotiate the festivities of the holiday season, tea with her niece, a blind date set up by her friend Angie, other church activities, the urge to reconnect with her long missing father, all the while juggling a thriving practice and writing her advice column, Dear Dr. Aster, for her online advice column.  

Rebecca can’t imagine that Lacy’s murder has anything to do with the church, nor can she imagine one of her fellow congregants committing murder.  Meigs isn’t too sure, and the more Rebecca looks into the events leading up to Lacy’s death, the more she suspects that some people have taken “love your neighbor” to extremes, while others have completely ignored that commandment.

Rebecca’s second mystery is even better than her first.  Rebecca has made moves to start a new life after her divorce and is coming to terms with her mutual attraction to married Meigs.  The two have some strong feelings toward each other, and Meigs was on the verge of filing for divorce (prior to meeting Rebecca) when he learned that his wife had Lou Gehrig’s disease. Now Meigs has promised to stand by Alice and fights his feelings toward Rebecca while she tries to take her own advice and give up on the hopelessness of the situation.  Rebecca also faces old family ghosts as she tells her sister she wants to contact their absentee father, a decision her sister is not entirely pleased about.

Once again, Rebecca gets more involved in the investigation than she meant to, but she has a way about her that make people want to open up to her. Rebecca is very likable and tries to offer a sympathetic ear to all without driving herself crazy with other people’s problems.  She is overcoming her bad marriage, her kidnapping in the fall, her feelings for Meigs and trying to reconcile her feelings about the father who abandoned her family when she and her sister were young, yet she keeps her good humor and grace.  

The mystery is well laid out and easy to follow, and there are several paths readers can take to figure everything out.  Preaching to the Corpse is a fun holiday mystery with a heroine who will easily win new fans and keep old fans well satisfied.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry