An Unfinished Murder by Jude Deveraux [Review]

An Unfinished Murder (Medlar Mystery #5) by Jude Deveraux
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: July 29, 2025

Medlar Mystery
1. A Willing Murder
2. A Justified Murder
3. A Forgotten Murder
4. A Relative Murder
5. An Unfinished Murder - Hardcover | Kindle

Jude Deveraux
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Retired romance novelist Sara Medlar has been comfortably sharing her large home with her niece Kate and her “honorary grandson” Jack. It’s a convenient arrangement given the Medlar Three, as they’ve become known, are often working closely together to solve mysteries in their small town of Lachlan, Florida. But when real estate agent Kate announces she’s been given the listing for the town’s storied Lachlan House, it sets off alarm bells for Sara and Jack. The infamous house has a dark history, one that’s certain to haunt them all.

With little memory of her childhood, Kate doesn’t understand what the fuss is about—until the trio visits the house and makes a grim discovery. Flooded by memories of the past, Kate realizes she spent time there as a child. But stumbling upon a skeleton dressed in a rotting tuxedo—a murder victim with connections to her father—causes Kate to wonder if the childhood she can’t remember might be one she’d rather forget.

As Sara, Kate and Jack delve deeper into the dead man’s history, they learn he was last seen at a party held at Lachlan House in the late nineties—a swanky soiree attended by his many enemies. With more than one motive in play, every partygoer is a suspect, and Sara is determined to find the culprit, even if it means digging up past secrets she’s worked hard to keep buried.

Thoughts on An Unfinished Murder: We're back with the Medlar Three and change is in the air. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, mind you, but the comfortable relationship between Sara, Kate, and Jack is shifting into something different. And change can be hard even when it's good. Heck, it can be nerve-wracking even when it's working toward something all parties want.

So. Jack was away for a while and his return caused some unexpected physical reactions in Kate of the HOO-BOY variety. This thrills Sara and Kate's father, but Kate and Jack still have to work up to actually being together. Meanwhile, a fantastic old house has fallen into Kate's realtor lap and she's THRILLED with it because she has memories of the place from when she was a kid. However, on the first outing she dragged Sara, Jack, and Randal to, they find a body in the old nursery. Sara being Sara, she immediately starts plotting how they're going to investigate.

All that plotting results in the house being fixed up and decorated and the group of individuals who were present when the victim became deceased being invited to a party. And then things got complicated.

Because there are secrets and more secrets and family ties that are hidden. As it turns out, the Medlar Three (along with Randal and others) are smack-dab in the middle of it all.

A very nice conclusion to the overall series. We get answers and closure and enough HEAs to go around. *thumbs up*