Book ~ "Getaway With Murder" (2021) Diane Kelly

From Goodreads ~ As if hitting the half-century mark wasn’t enough, Misty Murphy celebrated her landmark birthday by amicably ending her marriage and investing her settlement in a dilapidated mountain lodge at the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains. With the old inn teetering on both a bluff and bankruptcy, she must have lost her ever-loving mind.

Luckily handyman Rocky Crowder has a knack for rehabbing virtual ruins and for doing it on a dime and to Misty’s delight, the lodge is fully booked on opening night, every room filled with flexible folks who’d slipped into spandex and ascended the peak for a yoga retreat with plans to namastay for a full week. Misty and her guests are feeling zen - at least until the yoga instructor is found dead.

With a killer on the loose and the lodge’s reputation hanging in the balance, Misty must put her detective-skills to the test. Only one thing is as clear as a sunny mountain morning - she must solve the crime before the lodge ends up, once again, on the brink.

Misty is fifty and is starting a new life.  She and her husband have amicably split after many years and her sons are off to college.  She buys a mountain lodge which she'd visited many times and has fond memories of.  It needs some repairs and luckily Rocky, a local handyman, will do them cheaply and stay on to do maintenance in return for a room.  Misty hires Brynn as her assistant and the restaurant across the street will be providing a buffet breakfast in the mornings so she's good to go.  She even has a group booked for a week for a yoga retreat.  Things become not so zen when the leader of the yoga retreat is found murdered.  Misty is concerned because there may be a killer staying at her lodge, which is not a good way to start a business.

I've read many books (and series) by this author and I liked this one ... it's the first in the Mountain Lodge Mystery series.  I liked the writing style.  It is written in first person perspective from Misty's point of view and third person perspective from Yeti, Misty's cat's point of view (the author has done this in other series ... had dogs and cats share their point of view, which as an animal lover I find cute).

It was a quick light read and is a "cozy mystery" so there is no swearing, violence or adult activity.  I liked the characters and look forward to reading others in this series.  And I liked that Misty is a more mature age (so closer to mine) than a younger woman.