Elizabeth, brother Bill and his law partner involved in abused spouse murders, including one 100 years earlier

This book was a bit jumbled and vague, and it took 2/3 of the book before the P.I./forensic anthropologist Elizabeth actually touched either case, despite the blurb on the back cover suggesting she was busy on both cases soon after starting work as a P.I. for her brother's law firm. Amy Hill(A.P. Hill) was a decent character, mostly, though a bit too brittle for my taste, but I suppose she could be believable enough considering she's a woman lawyer working in a town where most lawyers seem to be men. The cases were interesting, the investigation was very light on details, science or logic, and the bizarre family law case involving a dolphin was almost too cute to fit the rest of the novel. Still, it was a fun book. ( )

Do not take any more recommendations from Malice Domestic. Best novel of the year, my butt! It was OK, but it was too goofy and far-fetched in many ways. The outcome of he "murder" investigation on the preacher's wife was relatively interesting, but the characters were too "out there," but not funny "out there." ( )

Substance: A story of 3 women dealing with abusive husbands, and their murderous solutions to the problem. Plus 2 women with different spousal challenges. The compare and contrast is interesting.
Style: McCrumb is always entertaining, often witty and humorous even with serious matters. The weave of the stories is well-done (which is not always the case with this framework). Enjoyable read but not outstanding.
NOTES:
The dedication page notes that the title comes from a comment by a battered woman: "If I'd killed him when I met him, I'd be out of prison now." ( )

Witty and amusing narrative of modern day law practice, marital woes and Confederate history, woven together with quirky characters and quirkier situations. McCrumb does her usual workmanlike job of dealing with all this regional eccentricity to provide the reader a pleasant experience. ( )