Mini-Reviews: More Cozies

Blessedly just as I desperately needed one, I had a long weekend away from work. In between being a responsible grown-up and completing such glamorous tasks as cleaning my oven, I got some reading done.  I've read some good books this year, but honestly 2023 has been a struggle reading-wise. I'm either devouring books or slogging through them. This post features an example of both.>Fun fact: I went to high school with Cynthia Ellingsen. She's a couple years younger (I was friends with her older sister...) but both Cynthia and I were Band Kids. A Play for Revenge is the fourth book in her Starlight Cove series for Amazon's Lake Union imprint (which means it's available via Kindle Unlimited) and stands alone fairly well (I've read book 1, but 2 and 3 are still in my TBR). 

Lily Kimura is fresh off a divorce and has returned to her small Northern Michigan hometown of Starlight Cove to work for the tourism bureau. Once upon a time, her grandmother (an actress) ran the local theatre, staging various summer stock productions that brought in some high profile names to star in plays. But several years ago the theatre caught on fire, a young actress died, and it stayed closed - until now. A mysterious benefactor has poured money into remodeling the theatre and a production of Chicago starring Hollywood heartthrob Arlo Majors is the first show of the season. Unfortunately it turns out not everybody is happy about the theatre reopening. A mysterious play is found in the orchestra pit, there's sinister noises that have the young actors tittering about ghosts, and Lily is getting sinister emails.

This book is like a small town romance women's fiction novel had baby with a cozy mystery and unfortunately it gives the story a very scattered feel.  I was all in on the mystery of the theater fire and the actress's death. Unfortunately it takes a back seat until the second half the book. Prior to that we're regaled with Lily navigating her life post-divorce, dealing with her ex (who has moved on) and his slipping relationship with their daughter.  Lily's parents, former small business owners, have retired but now when they should be enjoying their lives post-retirement, their marriage is showing signs of cracking. Then there's the flirtation with Arlo Majors, which is welcome but complicated. Her ex has already remarried (with a woman he "met" while married to Lily) and Lily is concerned about her daughter.  This last storyline is the traditional set-up for a romance, but it doesn't play out that way by the end. Granted, Lily shouldn't end up with Arlo, but the other natural pairing with Dean Harrington (a local police officer) is given such short shift, I didn't buy that either. In the end it's about Lily's journey, and since I really only cared about the dead actress and the fire....meh, on Lily's journey.

Fans of the light mysteries on the Hallmark Channel should check out this series, but for me this one felt too all over the place and the first half was a bit of a slog for me.

Final Grade = C

Apparently my nostalgia for the days when I devoured cozy mysteries is stronger than I thought. For Whom the Book Tolls by Laura Gail Black is the first book in her Antique Book Shop Mysteries and was another recommendation I picked up thanks to Azteclady's blog. You should read her review because she brings up valid points, but I think I ended up liking this one a tinch more than she did. In fact, it's the best cozy I've read in a while and reminded me of why I used to devour them in my younger days.

Jenna Quinn's life exploded spectacularly in Charlotte, and looking for a fresh start jumps at her uncle's invitation to stay with him for a while in Hokes Folly, North Carolina. She can help out in his antiquarian bookshop and get her feet back under her, never mind she hasn't seen him in well over a decade.  Jenna arrives very late, and per her uncle's instructions, let's herself into the apartment above the shop. It's not until the next morning that she stumbles across Uncle Paul's body lying at the bottom of the spiral staircase leading to the bookstore. Having found the body, being new to town, naturally the cops start to zero in on her - so it certainly doesn't help when Jenna finds out she's inherited the entirety of Uncle Paul's estate - the shop, the apartment, and a windfall between his savings and life insurance policy. She decides if she wants to find out the truth about Uncle Paul's murder, plus save her own skin, she can't rely on the police. She's going to do some snooping on her own.

First things first, there's no faffing about in this book. The dead body and high stakes show up within the first couple of chapters and we're off to the races. Jenna's distrust of the police and what happened in Charlotte are compelling backstory and backed up by the lead investigator in her uncle's death being the worst sort of pigheaded cop who tries to wheedle and fit "facts" to suit the narrative he wants to exist. Things move along at a very good clip, with a second body showing up right on queue and the author giving us a few options on suspects and motives.  Unfortunately I do think she tipped her hand a bit early, but I tore through the audiobook as Jenna snoops around looking for clues. 

The one quibble I have here is the "romance" - which felt dashed off and frankly half-assed.  The other cop on her uncle's case is "the good cop," handsome, and Jenna makes googly-eyes at him - but he's a very minor player in the story until the end when suddenly they're holding hands and playing kissy-face. There just wasn't enough work put into this aspect of the story to make me actually believe it.  It would have made more sense for the googly-eyes to continue and then have the author spin out the romance further in future books - of which there are 3 more to date after this one.

I rather liked this. The pacing was very solid, the stakes suitably high, and I felt like the mystery was front and center (not playing second fiddle to cutesy Southern small town shenanigans). I've already downloaded the second book in the series.

Final Grade = B

Review: The Lighthouse Keeper

How's this for a disclaimer: I went to high school with the author. Cynthia Ellingsen is a couple years younger than I am, her older sister, Carolyn, was in my class, and we were all "band kids."  I reconnected with Cynthia in 2011, at RWA (yes, my Librarian of the Year year) right before her first book with Berkley came out. Since then she and her husband have had a couple of kids and her latest book, The Lighthouse Keeper sees her moving over to Amazon's Lake Union imprint (print everywhere, ebook exclusive to Amazon, but if you're a Kindle Unlimited person you can read this book for free!).

Dawn Connors has her life mapped out before her, until her family's past comes back to haunt her.  Her parents were treasure hunters, diving and recovering ship wrecks.  They now own an antiques store in picturesque Starlight Cove, Michigan but they made their money thanks to one really well-documented treasure recovery.  So it's not unheard of that they would be the subject of a television documentary.  Dawn spent her childhood being constantly uprooted and longed for a "normal" existence.  She somehow gets talked into hosting a viewing party for the TV special and that's when all hell breaks loose.

The on-air personality resurrects the family scandal.  Dawn's great-grandfather was a sea captain who lost his ship off the cost of Starlight Cove.  On board?  Prohibition era whiskey and a pile of Morgan silver dollars - neither of which was ever recovered.  The TV show digs up all this dirt, leading to Dawn losing her boyfriend and her job in the ensuing publicity.  That's when the insurance agency comes calling.  Hand over the silver dollars and all will be forgiven.  If not?  Her parents lose their house.  At the end of her rope, lost in despair, Dawn does something rash.  She notices the Starlight Cove lighthouse is for sale via online auction.  She makes a bid, and wins it.  So now she's on her way to northern Michigan to look over the albatross she just bought, reconnect with her parents, oh and she has to figure out a way to find the silver dollars and clear her family's name.  Which means she has no time to waste getting sucked into the orbit of Kip Whittaker, the town's most eligible bachelor.

You know those cozy mysteries that the Hallmark Movie Channel is running non-stop these days?  Yeah, this book.  However enjoyment of the story hinges on the reader's ability to "roll with it."  Is this probable?  Honestly?  I have no idea.  But it does strain a bit that an insurance company would make threatening overtures regarding a ship wreck that happened in the 1920s.  Although who knows?  Maybe they would.  Insurance companies don't exactly have a warm and cuddly past (or present for that matter....).

It also requires patience on the part of the reader.  This is one of those Throw The Reader In Head First when it comes to character development.  Ellingsen tosses you right in and then employs the backtracking method to reveal more about her characters.  It's not a slow build kind of read - it's sink or swim in the early chapters.  But once Dawn wins the lighthouse and the action moves to Michigan, the author finds surer footing and we're off to the races.

It is an engaging read.  I would label this women's fiction with a touch of romantic mystery.   If you're a fan of small town contemporaries, this is the book for you.  The author does a great job of creating the town of Starlight Cove and all the residents - some welcoming to Dawn and some not.  It's the kind of small town where even if your family has been there for 20 years, the old guard is still going to consider you an "outsider."  It's also the best of both worlds, since the mystery of the shipwreck dates back to the 1920s and there was a great love affair between Dawn's great-grandparents - so there's a little something here to engage the historical fan.  I got invested in the mystery and the author sprinkles in various puzzles for the characters to, well, puzzle over and it kept me engaged all the way to finish line.

Fair warning, this is one of those books where the big city heroine ditches it all for the small town (Dawn's living in Boston when it all goes bust), but given Dawn's unhappiness in Boston (and the fact that her life implodes there) I didn't have an issue with it.  The editing could have been a bit tighter in spots for me, but I'm the sort of small town contemporary reader who wants less of the small town world-building (which, again, the author does exceedingly well) and more of the main couple - so take that for what it's worth.  The one solid detraction I have for the story is that the author leaves Dawn's ex-fiance' twisting in the breeze, but by then the mystery is in full swing and things are heating up between Dawn and Kip so.....a quibble more than anything else.

There's some history, some mystery, and some romance (kisses only, fade-to-black style).  If you're a reader who cannot get enough small town contemporary, this one will likely be a winner for you. Personally it made me a little home sick (and that's a compliment).

Final Grade = B-