Voted Most Likely to Murder Summary, Characters and Themes

Voted Most Likely to Murder by Lacey Moone is a cozy mystery centered on Belinda Bishop, a former journalist who returns to her Nova Scotia hometown after her career and relationship collapse. A high school reunion places her among former friends, rivals, crushes, and classmates whose adult lives are far less perfect than they appear.

When a former classmate is murdered and Belinda’s childhood friend becomes the leading suspect, her investigative instincts return. The case combines small-town humor, renewed friendship, romantic possibilities, personal reinvention, and a mystery shaped by old resentments, hidden addictions, misplaced devotion, and the dangerous influence of reputation.

Summary

Thirty-two-year-old Belinda Bishop reluctantly returns to Little Blue Harbour, Nova Scotia, after her carefully planned adult life falls apart. She has lost her journalism job, discovered that her boyfriend Craig was unfaithful, surrendered their Ottawa apartment, and moved back into her parents’ home, where she now helps run their cottage and campground business.

Her fourteen-year high school reunion forces her to face the people and memories she tried to leave behind. Outside the school, Belinda reunites with Stephanie “Stevie” Hart, her eccentric and loyal former best friend, whose humor helps Belinda manage her embarrassment about returning home without the successful career she once imagined.

Inside the reunion, Belinda encounters former classmates who appear trapped in updated versions of their teenage roles. Andrew “Big Andy” Perch is now a teacher and football coach, Barry Townsend is a drunken car dealer, and a group of fashionable women still behaves like the popular clique Belinda once mocked.

The reunion has been organized by Jolene Dexter, Belinda’s childhood friend and later rival. Jolene presents herself as a successful wife, mother, volunteer, and community figure, but her conversation with Belinda quickly becomes hostile as both women use sarcasm and personal information to reopen old wounds.

Stevie reveals a rumor that Jolene may be having an affair with Andy. Jolene and Andy often spend time together, and Jolene’s husband, Lawrence “Trawler” Dexter, reacts with obvious jealousy whenever Andy approaches her.

Belinda also reconnects with Ethan “Jinx” Sutherland, the owner of the Right Foot pub and her longtime high school crush. Local superstition claims that Sutherland men with brown hair and red beards carry a curse, but Belinda laughs at the warning and deliberately says Ethan’s full name while flirting with him.

As the evening continues, tension rises among several former classmates. Trawler accuses Andy of pursuing Jolene, Andy criticizes Trawler for neglecting his wife, and Jolene angrily rejects Andy’s attempt to defend her before following her husband out of the gym.

Andy’s ex-wife, Fiona Mahoney, confronts him over his history of infidelity, while Barry hints that his wife, Holly, may also have been involved with him. Madeline Barclay arrives unexpectedly, claims Andy owes her something, and asks Stevie where she can find him.

Before leaving, Belinda and Stevie decide to repeat an old school prank by drawing a cartoon near the vice-principal’s office. While using a dark staircase near the west exit, Belinda trips over Andy’s body and discovers that he has been killed.

The following morning, Belinda learns that the police are treating Andy’s death as a homicide and that Jolene is their main suspect. Belinda’s father, Kenneth, a retired RCMP officer, reveals that Andy was killed with a blunt object and that the missing Class Flirt trophy may have been the weapon.

A blue floral scarf belonging to Jolene was discovered beneath Andy’s body. Belinda immediately questions the convenient evidence because Jolene purchased and handled the reunion trophies, meaning her fingerprints would naturally appear on them.

Belinda and Stevie visit Jolene, whose supposedly perfect home life is already collapsing. Her daughter Sadie speaks harshly to her, Trawler avoids her, and many of her friends have abandoned her without waiting for the investigation to establish the truth.

Jolene admits that Andy made her feel noticed at a time when her husband had become emotionally distant. She insists that their relationship was never physical and explains that she was crying alone in a bathroom when Andy was killed, leaving her without an alibi.

Belinda, Stevie, and Jolene agree to investigate together. They promise not to accuse anyone without evidence, break the law, or hide important information, although all three rules soon become difficult to follow.

Their first suspects include Holly, Barry, Madeline, Fiona, and Trawler. Holly had been having an affair with Andy, Barry knew about the betrayal, Madeline claimed Andy owed her something, Fiona hated her former husband, and Trawler had openly threatened Andy during the reunion.

The investigation also helps Belinda and Jolene confront the collapse of their own friendship. They realize that jealousy, insecurity, family expectations, and poor communication caused each of them to misunderstand the other, and they agree to set aside their old hostility.

The police soon discover Andy’s bloodstained trophy buried in the school football field. Jolene’s fingerprints appear on it, making the case against her seem stronger, but Belinda remains convinced that someone deliberately used evidence that could be easily connected to Jolene.

A social media photograph reveals that Holly once wore Jolene’s blue scarf. Jolene remembers lending it to her, creating a possible explanation for how someone else obtained the scarf and placed it beneath Andy’s body.

Trawler’s behavior also becomes suspicious. Belinda sees a muddy shovel in his truck, notices that he has no reliable alibi, and learns that he has been leaving home without explaining his movements.

Belinda and Stevie question Fiona during a difficult outdoor fitness class. Fiona admits that Andy humiliated her throughout their marriage, but witnesses confirm that she remained at the reunion bar during the period when he was killed.

Holly admits to having an affair with Andy and to repeatedly calling him after he ended their relationship. Photographs eventually prove that Holly remained inside the gym with her friends shortly before the murder, while Barry’s unusual departure from the reunion initially leaves him under suspicion.

After questioning the Townsends, Belinda discovers a threatening note at her home warning her to stop investigating. The note excites her journalistic instincts, although her parents and Sergeant Brady Finlayson view it as evidence that she may be placing herself in danger.

Finlayson is leading his first major homicide investigation and dislikes Belinda’s interference. Their conversations become increasingly combative because he sees her as reckless, while she sees him as too eager to accept the obvious case against Jolene.

At the school, Belinda searches through a box containing Andy’s possessions. She discovers luxury sunglasses and a notebook filled with drawings of a square and teardrop shape beside the phrase “always the bad guy.”

Belinda also learns that objects have repeatedly disappeared from Jolene and Donna Dickie’s desks. Jolene has lost several personal items, including a walnut squirrel made by Sadie, while Donna claims that someone stole her snow globe.

Andy’s sister Nancy reveals that her brother was deeply attached to Jolene and may have been in love with her. She also explains that Andy had recently begun spending large amounts of money, despite appearing to have no additional source of income.

Belinda suspects that Andy may have stolen Jolene’s belongings because of his fixation on her. She proposes searching his house, but her friends refuse because doing so would violate the law and the rules they established.

Belinda secretly prepares to enter Andy’s home alone, wearing an old Catwoman costume. Stevie and Jolene predict her behavior, follow her, and join the illegal search rather than allow her to proceed without them.

Inside, they find expensive possessions and bank records showing regular cash deposits after weekends. Belinda remembers that Andy hosted poker games and realizes the money may have come from gambling.

A masked intruder suddenly enters the garage and moves directly toward a valuable Wayne Gretzky hockey card. Belinda confronts the person with a golf club, but the intruder escapes in a white sedan with a rusted rear bumper.

The women later recognize the vehicle as Madeline Barclay’s delivery car. When confronted, Madeline admits breaking into Andy’s house to recover the hockey card, which originally belonged to her husband Kevin’s father.

Kevin confesses that he is a recovering gambling addict. Financial desperation led him into Andy’s poker games, where he accumulated debt and eventually lost the sentimental card in a final wager.

Madeline had attended the reunion intending to demand the card’s return, but she insists that she left after Kevin called her. Her explanation accounts for the burglary, Andy’s additional income, and his mysterious notebook drawing, which Belinda identifies as the Edmonton Oilers logo.

Finlayson later announces that Andy’s blood was not found on Jolene’s reunion clothing. Because his head injury produced substantial bleeding, the absence of blood effectively removes Jolene as the killer.

Barry’s apparent false alibi is also explained. A taxi driver found him unconscious outside the school and drove him home without recording the fare, proving that Barry was too intoxicated to commit and conceal the murder.

The friends’ celebration ends when Jolene finds their hidden suspect list and discovers that Trawler’s name appears on it. She feels betrayed because Belinda and Stevie investigated her husband without telling her.

Belinda later overhears Trawler speaking secretly on the telephone. He asks someone for more time, says that Jolene knows nothing, and ends the conversation by saying that he loves the unidentified person.

After Belinda apologizes, Jolene admits that Trawler’s secrecy has also concerned her. The women follow him and observe him buying a heavy tarp, nylon zip ties, and lye before visiting a travel agency.

They search his truck and discover the suspicious supplies. Jolene also learns that Trawler has purchased one-way domestic airline tickets for himself and an unidentified woman.

The evidence appears to suggest that Trawler killed Andy, framed Jolene, and now intends to flee with a lover. When he arranges for Sadie to stay with her grandparents so that he can spend an evening alone with Jolene, Belinda fears that Jolene may be in immediate danger.

Searching the Dexter house, the women find the muddy shoes Trawler wore to the reunion. Since the murder weapon was buried in the football field, the mud and grass on the soles seem to confirm that he concealed it.

Trawler unexpectedly returns and explains every suspicious detail. The tarp and zip ties are for his fishing boat, the lye is for his parents’ landscaping, and he was digging near the school because he wanted to retrieve the time capsule he and Jolene buried where they first kissed.

The female passenger on the second airline ticket is Jolene. Trawler has arranged a delayed honeymoon to Niagara Falls, with a flight there and a train journey home, hoping to repair their marriage and surprise her.

Trawler and Jolene admit that emotional distance and poor communication allowed each of them to suspect the worst about the other. With Jolene officially cleared and their marriage improving, she urges Belinda to let the police finish the case.

At the Right Foot, Jinx reminds Belinda of a magic trick she investigated as a child. He explains that the secret was found by noticing what was missing rather than concentrating only on what was visible.

Belinda then notices that a school memorial program contains the same black printer marks as the threatening note. She realizes that the warning was printed in the administration office.

While reviewing reunion photographs, Belinda notices that Donna wore white gloves and a white shawl before Andy’s death, but neither item appeared afterward. Donna also falsely supported Fiona’s alibi even though photographs showed Fiona standing alone.

Belinda concludes that Donna invented Fiona’s alibi to create one for herself. Donna’s lack of concern about the missing office objects further suggests that she was responsible for the thefts.

Donna traps Belinda and Jolene in a supply closet and confesses. She has loved Andy since she was fifteen, when he briefly kissed her and invited her to prom before reconciling with Fiona and treating Donna as an embarrassing mistake.

During the reunion, Donna entered the office and stole Jolene’s scarf because Andy had often complimented it. Andy caught her, realized she had taken the other missing objects, and threatened to report her.

Andy fell during their struggle near the stairs but remained alive. When he continued threatening to contact the police, Donna struck him with the Class Flirt trophy, planted Jolene’s scarf beneath his body, hid her bloody clothing, and later buried the weapon.

Donna also printed the warning sent to Belinda. She now plans to burn the office using acetone, killing Belinda and Jolene while making it appear that they died destroying evidence.

Stevie, Trawler, and Finlayson arrive before Donna can complete her plan. Stevie had secretly installed a location tracker on Belinda’s phone and became worried when she and Jolene stopped answering.

Donna escapes into the gym, where Belinda pursues and tackles her into a large inflatable school mascot. Donna attempts to strangle Belinda, but Belinda uses childhood self-defence training to overpower her until the police arrive.

Donna confesses and directs the police to her hidden gloves and shawl. The officers also recover Jolene’s missing walnut squirrel from Donna’s desk, confirming her role in the office thefts.

After Andy’s funeral, Nancy returns the Gretzky card to Kevin. Belinda helps explain its emotional importance without publicly exposing Kevin’s gambling addiction, although Madeline still refuses to lift Belinda’s ban from the family store.

The local newspaper gives Belinda and her friends little credit for solving the case, disappointing her hopes of immediately restoring her journalism career. Jinx and Finlayson both show romantic interest in her, but Belinda decides that rebuilding her independence must come first.

Belinda chooses to remain in Little Blue Harbour rather than escape again. Surrounded by her parents, Stevie, Jolene, and the possibility of a new professional direction, she begins to see her return home not as proof of failure but as an opportunity to start again.

Characters

Belinda Bishop

Belinda is the central investigator and emotional viewpoint of Voted Most Likely to Murder. At thirty-two, she returns to Little Blue Harbour feeling that she has failed in nearly every part of adult life, including her career, relationship, finances, and attempt to escape the identity she formed as a teenager.

Her sharp observational skills, curiosity, and refusal to accept convenient explanations make her a capable investigator. However, these qualities are closely connected to arrogance, impatience, poor judgment, and a habit of treating personal boundaries as obstacles rather than limits.

Belinda’s criminal record illustrates how ambition can become recklessness when it is not balanced by discipline. Her decision to trespass into a singer’s dressing room damaged the career she valued most, yet she continues breaking rules because she believes solving the problem will justify the method.

Her investigation of Andy’s murder becomes a second chance to use her journalistic instincts constructively. Although she is initially attracted to the case partly because it might restore her career, her commitment gradually becomes more personal as Jolene’s safety and reputation come to matter more than professional recognition.

Belinda’s greatest development involves changing how she understands failure. She begins the story believing that returning home proves she was not as talented or exceptional as she once imagined, but she eventually recognizes that independence can be rebuilt without rejecting her family, hometown, or younger self.

She also learns that intelligence does not protect her from mistaken assumptions. Her certainty about Trawler nearly turns harmless actions into evidence of murder, forcing her to acknowledge that a convincing theory can still be completely wrong.

Stephanie “Stevie” Hart

Stevie is Belinda’s former best friend, investigative partner, and most consistent source of loyalty. Her unusual humor and energetic personality prevent the investigation from becoming completely dominated by fear, resentment, and suspicion.

Although she often appears impulsive, Stevie is emotionally observant. She recognizes that Belinda and Jolene’s hostility conceals unresolved affection, and she repeatedly pushes them to discuss the misunderstanding that ended their friendship.

Stevie balances Belinda’s intensity with practical concern, yet she is not simply the cautious member of the group. She joins the search of Andy’s house, participates in following Trawler, uses disguises, and secretly installs a tracking application on Belinda’s phone.

The tracking decision shows both her protectiveness and her willingness to violate boundaries when she believes someone is in danger. Her intervention ultimately saves Belinda and Jolene, proving that her concern is supported by action rather than words alone.

Stevie also helps restore the friendship among the three women. She functions as a bridge between Belinda’s confrontational personality and Jolene’s controlled public image, making it possible for both women to lower their defenses.

Jolene Dexter

Jolene initially appears to represent everything Belinda believes she has lost. She is married, financially secure, active in the community, and admired as a polished former Harbour Queen who seems to have built a successful adult life.

Beneath that image, Jolene is exhausted by the expectations placed upon her. Becoming pregnant changed her education and career plans, and she has spent years performing the roles of ideal wife, mother, organizer, and community volunteer without feeling that her sacrifices are understood.

Her relationship with Andy grows from emotional neglect rather than physical betrayal. His attention reminds her that she is a person with intelligence, needs, and ambitions, not merely someone responsible for managing her family and maintaining appearances.

Jolene’s arrest exposes the weakness of her social standing. The same community that praised her quickly abandons her, while friends who benefited from her work accept the accusation without questioning the evidence.

Her renewed friendship with Belinda allows her to rediscover parts of herself that were suppressed by perfectionism. Choosing purple nail polish becomes a small but meaningful declaration that she no longer wants every decision to support a harmless, carefully controlled image.

Jolene also shares responsibility for the problems in her marriage. She and Trawler have stopped communicating honestly, allowing loneliness and suspicion to replace trust, but their confrontation gives them an opportunity to rebuild their relationship more openly.

Andrew “Big Andy” Perch

Andy is the murder victim, yet the book refuses to reduce him to either a beloved teacher or an immoral flirt. He is generous, arrogant, careless, charismatic, cruel, compassionate, and capable of genuine improvement.

His earlier treatment of women created lasting harm. Donna built much of her adult identity around one brief moment of affection, Fiona remembers repeated humiliation, Holly believed their affair might become permanent, and Jolene became emotionally dependent on his attention.

At the same time, Andy had begun attending therapy, volunteering, supporting his sister’s clinic, and planning a school bursary. These actions suggest that he understood some of his failures and was making a serious attempt to become more responsible.

His handling of Kevin’s gambling addiction reveals the limits of his growth. Andy may have believed that refusing to return the hockey card was a lesson in personal responsibility, but he ignored the nature of addiction and treated another person’s vulnerability as an opportunity to enforce his own moral judgment.

Andy’s friendship with Jolene appears sincere, but his decision to confront Trawler publicly places her in a humiliating position. Even when trying to help, he often assumes that his understanding gives him the right to interfere in other people’s lives.

Donna Dickie

Donna serves as the central antagonist of Voted Most Likely to Murder, but her actions develop from years of humiliation, resentment, fantasy, and emotional isolation. She has spent much of her life believing that one teenage kiss from Andy represented a permanent connection that he unfairly denied.

Her fixation prevents her from accepting that Andy’s brief interest did not carry the meaning she assigned to it. Instead of processing the rejection, she transforms it into a story in which she was the loyal, deserving woman repeatedly overlooked in favor of Fiona, Jolene, and others.

The office thefts reveal Donna’s need for control and secret possession. Taking small objects allows her to intrude into other people’s lives while creating a private collection of things that were never willingly given to her.

Andy’s threat to expose the thefts destroys the identity Donna has protected. His fall may begin as an accident, but striking him with the trophy is a deliberate decision motivated by rage, fear, and the desire to silence someone who has once again rejected her.

Donna’s attempt to frame Jolene is especially revealing because Jolene represents the recognition Donna believes she deserved. Planting the scarf allows her to punish both Andy and the woman whose emotional importance to him caused Donna intense jealousy.

Her final plan to burn the school shows how completely her claimed love has become destructive. She is willing to destroy the place Andy valued most because preserving her fantasy matters more to her than honoring the real person he was.

Lawrence “Trawler” Dexter

Trawler initially appears to be a jealous, neglectful husband whose anger gives him a believable motive for murder. His public confrontation with Andy, unexplained movements, muddy shovel, secret phone call, unusual purchases, and travel arrangements make him the investigation’s strongest false suspect.

His behavior is not innocent in every respect. He has allowed his marriage to become emotionally distant, and his failure to communicate creates the conditions in which Jolene turns to Andy for attention and later believes Trawler may be capable of framing her.

The suspicious evidence ultimately reflects Trawler’s awkward attempt to repair the relationship. His plan to retrieve their old time capsule and arrange a delayed honeymoon shows that he still values Jolene and remembers the history they built together.

Trawler’s secrecy nearly destroys the positive purpose of his surprise. His character demonstrates that affection without honest communication can resemble betrayal because the other person is forced to interpret unexplained behavior without necessary context.

Ethan “Jinx” Sutherland

Jinx is Belinda’s former high school crush and the owner of the Right Foot pub. His calm confidence contrasts with Belinda’s tendency to overthink situations and pursue every uncertainty until it becomes a complete investigation.

The local legend surrounding his family gives him a playful connection to superstition and coincidence. Belinda rejects the supposed curse, but the joke becomes part of their flirtation and reflects the town’s habit of turning people into stories based on ancestry and reputation.

Jinx understands Belinda more clearly than she understands herself. When she worries that she is arrogant and socially difficult, he does not offer empty reassurance but identifies both her weaknesses and her strengths.

His explanation of the childhood magic trick gives Belinda the insight that leads her to Donna. By encouraging her to notice what is absent, he helps her recognize the missing gloves, shawl, and photographic evidence.

Jinx’s romantic interest is patient rather than forceful. He allows Belinda to prioritize her career and independence, suggesting that any future relationship would need to support her growth instead of becoming another structure she uses to define her success.

Sergeant Brady Finlayson

Finlayson is an ambitious police officer leading his first major homicide investigation. His formal behavior and irritation with local nicknames reflect his desire to maintain authority in a town whose residents treat familiarity as more important than official procedure.

His early focus on Jolene is understandable because the evidence appears strong. The scarf, fingerprints, personal conflict, and lack of an alibi create a reasonable case, but his confidence in that theory prevents him from fully appreciating how easily the evidence could have been planted.

Finlayson and Belinda share more characteristics than either initially admits. Both are intelligent, insecure, eager to prove themselves, and influenced by professional failures or expectations they fear they cannot overcome.

Their arguments become personal because each identifies the other’s hidden insecurity. Finlayson calls Belinda an ordinary person who failed outside her hometown, while Belinda recognizes that he feels pressured to equal his father’s law-enforcement reputation.

Despite his frustration, Finlayson eventually acknowledges the women’s contribution. His warmer behavior at the end suggests that his hostility was partly strengthened by attraction, although professional competition remains an important part of their relationship.

Holly Townsend

Holly is introduced as a socially powerful salon owner whose affair with Andy gives her a clear motive. Her anger, pride, and tendency to humiliate others make it easy for Belinda to imagine her responding violently after Andy rejected her.

Holly admits the affair but refuses to express shame in the way others expect. Her reaction shows a defensive personality that uses aggression to protect itself from judgment and emotional exposure.

Photographic evidence clears her by establishing that she remained inside the gym near the time of the murder. Her innocence reinforces the danger of treating an unpleasant personality as proof of criminal behavior.

Holly’s marriage to Barry has already collapsed before the murder is solved. Their relationship reveals how addiction, infidelity, resentment, and public embarrassment can continue beneath the appearance of ordinary small-town success.

Barry Townsend

Barry initially appears to be an irresponsible drunk whose anger toward Andy may have become violent. He knows that Andy slept with Holly, leaves the reunion under unclear circumstances, and gives an alibi that the taxi company initially cannot verify.

His actual explanation is both comic and sad. He was so intoxicated that the taxi driver found him unconscious, which proves he did not kill Andy but confirms the seriousness of his drinking problem.

Andy’s death forces Barry to examine his marriage and addiction. Rather than treating himself only as a betrayed husband, he recognizes that his drinking and unhappiness have contributed to the relationship’s collapse.

His decision to leave Holly represents an attempt to regain control over his life. Although he remains a flawed supporting character, he begins confronting problems that he previously avoided through alcohol.

Madeline Barclay

Madeline’s secretive arrival at the reunion and later burglary make her one of the most convincing suspects. Her anger toward Andy is rooted in his refusal to return a treasured hockey card lost through Kevin’s gambling addiction.

Her decision to break into Andy’s garage is illegal, but the motive is protective rather than murderous. She believes she is recovering something that never should have been treated as an ordinary gambling stake.

Madeline is fiercely loyal to Kevin and defensive about his addiction. Her hostility toward Belinda grows because the investigation exposes private pain that she and Kevin have struggled to manage away from public judgment.

She remains unwilling to forgive Belinda even after the murder is solved. Her refusal to lift the store ban provides a realistic consequence for Belinda’s actions, showing that solving the crime does not erase trespassing, threats, and false accusations.

Kevin Barclay

Kevin is a recovering gambling addict whose hidden history explains Andy’s cash deposits and the stolen Gretzky card. His decision to conceal the real reason he left university shows the shame he associates with his addiction.

He repeatedly attempts to recover his losses through further gambling, eventually risking an object with deep emotional value. This behavior illustrates how addiction can overpower judgment even when the person understands the potential consequences.

Kevin’s confession is painful because it requires him to admit that Andy did not simply steal the card. He surrendered it during a desperate game, although Andy’s refusal to return it remains morally questionable.

Nancy’s decision to give the card back provides Kevin with compassion rather than punishment. The gesture does not erase his responsibility, but it recognizes that recovery may require support rather than continued humiliation.

Fiona Mahoney

Fiona is Andy’s ex-wife and one of several people harmed by his earlier behavior. Her bitterness is understandable because his repeated affairs and public disrespect damaged her confidence and reputation.

She also carries responsibility for her own unethical decisions. Her involvement with a corrupt home inspector shows that she is capable of dishonesty when protecting her financial interests.

Fiona becomes an early suspect because her anger is visible, but her verified alibi removes her from the case. Her role demonstrates how previous misconduct can make an innocent person appear guilty when a community already expects the worst from them.

Nancy Perch

Nancy offers the most balanced account of Andy. She loves her brother and respects his devotion to the school, but she does not deny that he could be arrogant, cruel, and irresponsible.

Her descriptions help Belinda understand that Andy was attempting to change. His donations, altered will, therapy, volunteer work, and support for the animal clinic indicate that his later life cannot be judged only by his high school reputation.

Nancy’s decision to return the hockey card to Kevin reflects empathy that Andy failed to show. She recognizes both Kevin’s responsibility and the emotional importance of the object, choosing restoration over a rigid lesson about consequences.

Kenneth Bishop

Kenneth is Belinda’s retired-RCMP father and a steady source of support. He understands his daughter’s investigative nature because he has watched her pursue puzzles obsessively since childhood.

Although he shares confidential information, he does not encourage reckless interference. He insists that Belinda provide important evidence to the police and respects her as an adult while reminding her that independence includes accepting responsibility.

Kenneth also helps soften Belinda’s belief that returning home represents defeat. His confidence in her abilities is not based on her career status, allowing her to recognize that personal worth can survive professional failure.

Belinda’s Mother

Belinda’s mother is more openly worried about the investigation than Kenneth. Her discovery of the threatening note and evidence binder leads her to fear that Belinda is repeating the same reckless behavior that previously damaged her career.

Her concern can appear controlling, but it comes from an accurate understanding of Belinda’s habits. She knows that her daughter becomes so absorbed in a mystery that danger, legality, and emotional consequences can become secondary.

She also represents the stable home Belinda once believed she needed to escape. By the end, Belinda begins to appreciate her parents’ support without treating dependence on them as a permanent identity.

Sadie Dexter

Sadie is Jolene and Trawler’s gifted daughter. Her early cruelty toward her mother reflects the social pressure created by the murder accusation and the speed with which public judgment enters private family relationships.

Her behavior also deepens Jolene’s isolation. Losing the support of friends is painful, but being rejected by the daughter for whom she sacrificed many ambitions makes the accusation especially damaging.

The walnut squirrel Sadie made becomes an important piece of physical evidence. Its recovery from Donna’s desk confirms the pattern of office thefts and connects Donna’s secret behavior to the murder investigation.

Themes

Reputation and the Persistence of Old Identities

The reunion places every character inside a social system built during adolescence. In Voted Most Likely to Murder, the former students have aged, married, built careers, developed addictions, and experienced disappointment, yet they continue to interpret one another through labels created in high school.

Belinda remains the ambitious outsider who believed she was destined for more, Jolene remains the admired Harbour Queen, Andy remains the flirt, Donna remains the ignored teacher’s pet, and Holly remains part of the socially powerful clique. These identities influence both personal behavior and the murder investigation.

The danger of reputation becomes clearest when Jolene is accused. Her public perfection initially makes the accusation shocking, but the town quickly turns her close friendship with Andy into evidence of betrayal and violence.

Other characters are treated in similar ways. Fiona’s unethical history makes her appear capable of murder, Barry’s alcoholism makes his statements unreliable, Holly’s aggression makes her seem violent, and Belinda’s criminal record allows Finlayson to dismiss her as a reckless amateur.

The solution requires Belinda to stop treating familiar identities as complete explanations. Donna succeeds in hiding because everyone continues to view her as insignificant, helpful, and eager for approval, proving that the person who receives the least attention can act without being truly observed.

Friendship, Forgiveness, and Honest Communication

Belinda, Stevie, and Jolene’s restored friendship forms the emotional center of the story. Belinda and Jolene spent years believing that the other deliberately rejected or betrayed her, when their separation actually grew from jealousy, insecurity, parental expectations, and an unwillingness to speak honestly.

The murder investigation forces them into repeated conversations that would otherwise have remained avoided. Each new conflict exposes another weakness, including Belinda’s habit of hiding evidence, Jolene’s difficulty admitting unhappiness, and Stevie’s tendency to protect others through questionable decisions.

Their friendship does not return simply because they remember happier childhood experiences. It becomes stronger because they confront resentment, acknowledge their own mistakes, and continue choosing one another after arguments.

The same problem appears in Jolene and Trawler’s marriage. Both care deeply about their family, yet years of emotional distance allow Jolene to seek validation from Andy and Trawler to plan major decisions without explaining his behavior.

Their mutual suspicion shows that love cannot replace communication. Trawler’s romantic surprise resembles preparation for murder because Jolene has been given no context for his secrecy, while Jolene’s emotional loneliness appears to him like evidence of an affair.

The novel presents honest conversation as difficult but necessary. Relationships survive not because people avoid conflict, but because they eventually speak openly enough to correct the stories they have created about one another.

Failure, Reinvention, and the Meaning of Success

Belinda measures success through escape, career achievement, independence, and public recognition. Returning to her parents’ home after losing her job and relationship therefore feels like proof that her younger confidence was misplaced.

The murder case initially attracts her because it appears capable of restoring the identity she lost. Solving it could produce an exclusive article, revive her career, and prove that she remains the investigative journalist she once hoped to become.

Her expectations are not fulfilled in the way she imagines. The local newspaper gives her little credit, her illegal choices create new conflicts, and solving the case does not immediately provide employment, money, or independence.

The experience nevertheless changes her understanding of achievement. She repairs important friendships, protects Jolene, saves students from danger, confronts her own arrogance, and recognizes that returning home can be a stage of recovery rather than a permanent defeat.

Other characters experience similar forms of reinvention. Andy attempted to change through therapy and service, Barry confronts his alcoholism, Kevin begins recovering from gambling, and Jolene starts resisting the demand to appear perfect.

The story does not suggest that change erases past harm. Instead, reinvention requires responsibility, humility, and a willingness to build a new life without denying the choices that made rebuilding necessary.

Appearance, Evidence, and Misleading Conclusions

The mystery repeatedly demonstrates that facts can be accurate while the conclusions drawn from them are false. Jolene’s scarf is found beneath Andy’s body, her fingerprints appear on the weapon, Trawler possesses muddy shoes, and Madeline drives the car seen fleeing Andy’s house, yet none of these facts proves murder.

Belinda’s investigation advances when she separates observation from interpretation. She often notices meaningful details, but her desire to create a complete theory causes her to decide what evidence means before enough information is available.

The Trawler investigation offers the clearest example. The lye, tarp, zip ties, shovel, travel tickets, secret call, and muddy shoes form an apparently convincing narrative of murder and escape.

Every object has an innocent purpose, however, and Belinda’s certainty nearly destroys Jolene’s trust in her husband. The mistake teaches Belinda that several suspicious facts can support the wrong explanation when they are organized around an untested assumption.

Donna avoids suspicion because attention is directed toward visible conflict. The investigators concentrate on jealous spouses, rejected lovers, public arguments, gambling debts, and marital betrayal, while Donna’s quiet presence is treated as unimportant.

The case is finally solved by examining absence rather than presence. The missing gloves, missing shawl, false alibi, stolen objects, and overlooked printer marks reveal that truth often depends on noticing what someone has removed, concealed, or encouraged others to ignore.