Author: Laura Gail Black
Published: September 6th 2022 by Crooked Lane Books
Format: Kindle Edition, 288 pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Antique Bookshop Mystery #3
First Sentence: “Life is sweet”. Mason stood in the open doorway to my used and antique bookstore, Twice Upon a Time, staring across the cobbled street toward The Weeping Willow.
Blurb: The birds are singing, books are selling, and the Hokes Bluff Inn has begun to host weddings on its property. Antiquarian bookseller Jenna Quinn loves the romance in the air—until her ex-fiancé, Blake Emerson, walks in with his bride-to-be, Missy Plott. Blake continues to profess his love for Jenna if she’ll have him back, no matter the consequences. And the consequences are grave, indeed, when Missy turns up dead.
All evidence points to Blake, who was the last one to see her alive. He begs Jenna to help him clear his name. Blake’s mother, Cordelia, is also bent on exonerating her son. Jenna doesn’t believe that Blake could have killed Missy, and she starts digging for suspects. It could have been Missy’s ex-boyfriend, who proclaims a love for her he says only death could sever. Or might it have been Missy’s bitter “best friend,” who was secretly besotted with Missy’s ex.
Then, the police find evidence from a cold case years before—a case that had falsely implicated Jenna herself. Cordelia continues to beg Jenna to help prove her son’s innocence. Could Blake truly be innocent?
Jenna’s life is on the line in a final confrontation that will either prove Blake’s innocence—or damn them both. (GoodReads)
My Opinion: With a slow start, the usual boyfriend detective, and a relationship conflict midway through, Laura Gail Black takes her readers back to Hoke Foley, the bookstore, and an unexpected visit from Jenna’s ex-finance. The same ex who discarded her when she was accused and eventually acquitted of embezzlement, causing her to leave Charleston and start over in the bookstore she inherited from her uncle.
A few chapters in, the body appears, and Jenna, once again, is both suspect and amateur sleuth. The book follows the same predictable cozy mystery pattern and could have benefited from a subplot or two and fewer repetitive descriptions and actions.
As the book lumbers along, the reader may find themselves skimming. Then the last ten percent answers all the questions yet leaves the lingering question --- is this a series they would want to continue?
Blurb: The birds are singing, books are selling, and the Hokes Bluff Inn has begun to host weddings on its property. Antiquarian bookseller Jenna Quinn loves the romance in the air—until her ex-fiancé, Blake Emerson, walks in with his bride-to-be, Missy Plott. Blake continues to profess his love for Jenna if she’ll have him back, no matter the consequences. And the consequences are grave, indeed, when Missy turns up dead.
All evidence points to Blake, who was the last one to see her alive. He begs Jenna to help him clear his name. Blake’s mother, Cordelia, is also bent on exonerating her son. Jenna doesn’t believe that Blake could have killed Missy, and she starts digging for suspects. It could have been Missy’s ex-boyfriend, who proclaims a love for her he says only death could sever. Or might it have been Missy’s bitter “best friend,” who was secretly besotted with Missy’s ex.
Then, the police find evidence from a cold case years before—a case that had falsely implicated Jenna herself. Cordelia continues to beg Jenna to help prove her son’s innocence. Could Blake truly be innocent?
Jenna’s life is on the line in a final confrontation that will either prove Blake’s innocence—or damn them both. (GoodReads)
My Opinion: With a slow start, the usual boyfriend detective, and a relationship conflict midway through, Laura Gail Black takes her readers back to Hoke Foley, the bookstore, and an unexpected visit from Jenna’s ex-finance. The same ex who discarded her when she was accused and eventually acquitted of embezzlement, causing her to leave Charleston and start over in the bookstore she inherited from her uncle.
A few chapters in, the body appears, and Jenna, once again, is both suspect and amateur sleuth. The book follows the same predictable cozy mystery pattern and could have benefited from a subplot or two and fewer repetitive descriptions and actions.
As the book lumbers along, the reader may find themselves skimming. Then the last ten percent answers all the questions yet leaves the lingering question --- is this a series they would want to continue?
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