Vice and Virtue by Libby Klein
Published: April 2025
Summary from Goodreads:
Layla Virtue, a blue-haired, thirtysomething recovering alcoholic and former cop is trying to reinvent herself in this hilarious and heartfelt mystery.
Layla is taking her new life one day at a time from the Lake Pinecrest Trailer Park she now calls home. Being alone is how she likes it. Simple. Uncomplicated. Although try telling that to the group of local ladies in relentless pursuit of her as their new BFF.
Meanwhile, after her first career ended in a literal explosion, Layla’s trying to eke out a living as a rock musician. It’s hard competing against garage bands who work for tacos and create their music on a computer while all she has is an electric guitar and leather-ish pants. But she isn’t in a position to turn down any gig—which is why she’s at an eight-year-old’s birthday party, watching as Chuckles the Clown takes a bow under the balloon animals. No one expects it will be his last…
Confession:
I really liked this first book in a new cozy mystery series. It was full of quirky characters, a fun plot, and it did touch on some slightly darker issues. I also enjoyed all of the musical references and the puppy, Ringo, who adopts Layla.
Layla was a great main character. She is an ex-cop, suffering from PTSD, and an alcoholic. She had a very different childhood, with a rich and famous dad, which is why she has a lot of trust issues. She doesn’t make friends easily, or at all, and romantic relationships have been rocky. She now just basically wants to be left alone. But she is tough, and smart and a pretty good musician. Her relationship with her father is strained, but you can tell that the love is there.
All of the secondary characters were a lot of fun and I hope that they all come back in book two. The people living in the trailer park are hilarious, from the overbearing manager who will site anyone for any small infraction, to the young man and his pet pig. They were all just a lot of fun. The three women from AA who want to befriend Layla are also pretty fun and a very different group of woman, both older and younger than Layla. There is a love interest, her new next door neighbor, Nick who is the owner of the puppy, that I really liked. I look forward to seeing their relationship blossom.
The story was a lot of fun. There was perhaps more emphasis on all of the character’s development than the mystery of who killed the clown but they do eventually get there. The mystery was actually a bit harder than I usually find in cozy mysteries, which I really appreciated. There were some darker issues brought up in this story which were handled well. Some of these include alcoholism, PTSD, aging and dementia, but these were all surrounded by a lot of heart and humor from all of the characters.
Cozy mysteries can often be a miss for me but this one was definitely a hit. I am very much looking forward to the next book in the series. If you enjoy mysteries, especially ones with fun characters and 80’s musical references, this is one you want to get on your TBR.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 
Love this review. Cosy mysteries can be a bit or miss for me too and for me, it comes down to the characters. These sound like a lot of fun and I’m always up for 80s music so I will definitely look out for this one
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Hope you like it!
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I won’t be reading it anytime soon sadly as it’s very expensive! It’s over £17 on kindle!!! I guess it’s because it’s a US import.
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Sorry about that. Hopefully it will go one sale at some point.
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