Murder in Waiting

Murder in Waiting

By: Lynn Cahoon

176 Pages

Publish Date: June 30, 2020

Summary:

At Coffee, Books, & More, Jill’s the boss. But as Amy’s maid-of-honor, she can barely keep up with marching orders--and now she’s in charge of organizing an epic bachelorette! Adding to Jill’s party-planning panic, the South Cove Heritage Society just unceremoniously dumped her historic landmark bid. While vying proposals rush in from a loaded land developer and a pushy travel guide company, Jill finds an unexpected ally in Heritage Society expert, Frank Gleason. But their happy union is cut short when Frank is mowed down in a suspicious hit-and-run. With Amy’s big day on the horizon, Jill vows to catch the killer before she has to catch a bouquet.  --bn.com

In the latest installment of the Tourist Trap Series, Jill is facing contention in every direction. Someone wants the property her house is on and has gone so far as to imply it's willing to be sold. As readers know, no doesn't always mean no until a body ends up dead. Jill needs to find out who is trying to sell off her house and why. Also, attacks are being taken at her business. After being falsely blamed for something, retaliation finds it's way to Coffee, Books & More. Who's trying to ruin her business? Does it have anything to do with things happening with her house and the vacant lot next to it? As if that wasn't enough, Jill is the Maid of Honor to her Bridezilla bestie. Everything comes to a head when the gang travels to Las Vegas for a Bachelor & Bachelerette party. 

I always enjoy catching up with this group of characters. While the mystery part of the story line isn't the as strong as other aspects, it still keeps you intrigued. All the characters are fun and interactive and will keep you entertained until the next book of the series arrives.  If you're in the mood for a light, fun read you will enjoy this book. 

The Grim Reader

The Grim Reader

By: Kate Carlisle

336 Pages

Summary:

Brooklyn's hometown of Dharma is hosting it's first Book Festival. Everyone's excited and getting involved. The local bookshop owner even found a first edition of Little Women (the festival theme) for Brooklyn to repair that will be in the silent auction. However, one dead body leads to questions and revelations- not to mention another dead body and other mayhem.

I'm a fairly new reader to this series. I recently discovered it and loved it. While I'm only a few books in, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to read this one. Brooklyn and Derek are newlyweds and full of all the lovey-dovey stuff of newlyweds. When Rebecca, Brooklyn's Mother, is threatened by a not so nice community member, Brooklyn and Derek spring into action. Threats lead to an attempt on her life and the discovery of a fellow festival committee member's dead body. When Lawson is found dead, new revelations comes to light: where did the all the festival money he was in charge of go? 

This story is full of possible suspects and you either like them, or meant not to. While the plot took a bit to get moving and all the action to start happening, once it did you were gripped. You can picture the mountain surroundings and the small town feel as you try to figure out how one thing leads to another. While this book is the 14th in the series, I didn't need to read all the previous books to feel in the know of what's going on. Kate does a great job of giving you whatever background information you may need. 

I enjoyed this book! It was a fun mystery to get lost into. Like I said, I'm a new fan of the series. I look forward to reading the books leading up to this one. Go out and get your hands on this book so you can spend part of your summer solving a mystery.