A Cinnamon Falls Mystery - R. L. Killmore

It's a little town near Atlanta. The heroine Nia is returning to the town after leaving abruptly because her best friend died - dumping her boyfriend Jesse in the process. On her return she finds boyfriend now working as a cop, some entitled kids from their past and various others characters. There's a bit of stiffness between the two exes.

They meet at a eatery owned by her dead friends mother Rosie, a popular hangout place. Soon, Rosie is found dead. Two typical cops show up calling Jesse a rookie etc and arresting the wrong man. Nia starts investigating. Soon another woman dies and there is suspicion of a serial killer on the loose. Nia somehow solves the crime - the bad people go to jail (the rich guys), the good people come out of jail, the exes get together and everything is hunky dory.

I kind of gave up on the murderer because the book kept shifting between their love story, the relationships with the dead people, relationships here and there etc. The muderers motives seemed rather contrived. It was like a sugary murder mystery which is the first I read of its kind. I felt the breezy style affected the flow and that it went on too long after the murderer was caught. I was also wondering if the author's name was a pen name - Kill More?