Murder wasn’t on the to-do list… but now Crystal’s cleaning up a killer’s mess.

When professional organizer Crystal Ward finds a dead body in a client’s living room, her new business screeches to a halt. Even worse? The case is quickly written off as domestic violence—by her husband’s former partner, the cop she blames for ruining their lives.

Five years ago, Crystal’s husband, Rick, a Chicago detective, was shot and left paralyzed. Now he wants her to keep her distance from danger. But with a catatonic witness, an unsolved murder, and secrets piling up, Crystal won’t walk away.

With a killer determined to erase all evidence, Crystal must outsmart the murderer before she becomes the next victim.

Titles in the Windy City Mysteries series include: Room for Suspicion ~ Deadlier than Fiction ~ Killer Close to Home ~ No Room to Hide ~

This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Title:  Room for Suspicion
Series:  Windy City Mysteries #1
Author:  Carol Light
Published:  June 27, 2023 (original), reissued with a new cover, October 22, 2025
Publisher:  Tule Publishing
My Rating:  4 stars

Room for Suspicion is the first story in the Windy City Mysteries series, introducing professional organizer turned amateur detective/sleuth, Crystal Ward.

Rick, Crystal’s husband, was injured in the line of duty. Now paralyzed, he works a desk job.  Still a policeman, still with a cop’s instincts, which is one reason why he’s so concerned about the safety aspect of the new business his wife has created… which sends her into strangers’ homes every single day.

Turns out her husband was right to be concerned when one of her clients didn’t answer the door, and Crystal and the woman’s brother entered her home to find a man dead, her client comatose, and more questions than answers lead Crystal to visit the woman at the hospital and to discover that her loving husband was there by her side… then who was the dead man?  The police officer who took the call was her husband’s former partner, a man who Crystal still blames for Rick’s injury, claimed it was an obvious domestic violence case and shut down any further investigation… but was it?

I enjoyed Room for Suspicion by Carol Light.  There are plenty of red herrings right from the start of this mystery, and add in some twists and turns along the way to the capture of the bad guy.  You’ll find an intriguing, fast-paced mystery that will keep you guessing and engaged until the final page.  It’s well-written, emotional, with engaging, believable characters.  If you love puzzles and figuring out whodunit, then you’d enjoy this one.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or the author’s team via Booksprout, and I sincerely thank them for their trust. It is my choice to leave a review, giving my personal opinion about this book.*

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