Blog Tour: Mission to Murder by Lynn Cahoon (Review)

About the Book

Genre:  Cozy Mystery, #2 in "A Tourist Trap Mystery" Series
Release Date: July 31, 2014Publisher:  Kensington Publishing
230 Pages


Synopsis

In the California coastal town of South Cove, history is one of its many tourist attractions—until it becomes deadly…

Jill Gardner, proprietor of Coffee, Books, and More, has discovered that the old stone wall on her property might be a centuries-old mission worthy of being declared a landmark. But Craig Thomas, the obnoxious owner of South Cove’s most popular tourist spot, The Castle, makes it his business to contest her claim. When Thomas is found murdered at The Castle shortly after a heated argument with Jill, even her detective boyfriend has to ask her for an alibi. Jill decides she must find the real murderer to clear her name. But when the killer comes for her, she’ll need to jump from historic preservation to self-preservation …

My Review

Jill Gardner and her friends from South Cove are back. Once again, Jill finds herself the center of a murder when a man she had been arguing with is suddenly killed. Craig Thomas was intent on publicly refuting Jill’s claim that a wall on her property was actually an old landmark.  Jill planned to prove him wrong, but she had no plans to kill the man.

Her boyfriend, Detective Greg King, believes her but the mayor of South Cove is pressuring him to arrest Jill since all the evidence is pointing her way. Despite Greg’s warning against it, Jill decides to do some snooping on her own. She is sure someone is framing her. Not only will she find out why, but she is determined to find out who before she finds herself behind bar.

This is one of those cozies that you feel as if you are visiting old friends. It’s fun to check in and see how they are all doing since the last book. The characters are well portrayed and literally jump off the pages. Jill and Greg’s romance is written perfectly – they aren’t moving too fast giving readers a chance to witness the relationship as it progresses.

The secondary characters are delightful from her best friend Amy to her aunt Jackie to the local psychic Esmeralda. Each one feels as if they are real people any of us can meet in our everyday life.

Although many cozies take place in bookstores these days, each one has their own special take on the setting and this one is no different. The store is filled with books, coffee and many, many delicious-sounding desserts. South Cove sounds like a delightful place – who would suspect murder happening on a regular basis? LOL

This series is a quick, relaxing read for me. The author can’t write them fast enough. I love every minute of my visits to South Cove and I anxiously await when I can return again.

FTC Disclosure: The author provided me with a copy of this book to review for this blog tour. This did not influence my thoughts and opinions in any way. All opinions expressed are my own.

About the Author

USA Today and New York Times, best-selling author, Lynn Cahoon is an Idaho native. If you’d visit the town where she grew up, you’d understand why her mysteries and romance novels focus around the depth and experience of small town life. Currently, she’s living in a small historic town on the banks of the Mississippi river where her imagination tends to wander. She lives with her husband and four fur babies.

Goodreads -http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5857424.Lynn_Cahoon
Twitter - https://twitter.com/LynnCahoon
Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/LynnCahoonAuthor
Website - http://lynncahoon.wordpress.com/
Amazon author page - http://www.amazon.com/Lynn-Cahoon/e/B0082PWOAO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Purchase Links:
AMAZON            B&N

Excerpt

Some people like to hear their own voice. That jewel of wisdom hit me as I filled the coffee carafes for the third time. As chamber liaison, I’d volunteered my shop, Coffee, Books, and More, to serve as semi-permanent host site for South Cove’s Business Basics meeting. The early morning meeting was scheduled to run from seven to nine but the clock over the coffee bar showed it was already twenty minutes past. With more items to cover on the agenda, we’d be ordering lunch, maybe dinner, before the end.

All because the newest committee member, Josh Thomas, owner of the new antiques store down the street, had issues. He didn’t like the agenda, the city’s promotion plan, and he especially didn’t like the fact the city didn’t have a formal animal control office. These subjects were not part of the regular list of discussion topics for the eclectic mix of owners of gift shops, art galleries, inns, and restaurants. I usually loved feeling the creative energy and listening to wacky ideas members brought to the table. Today, the meeting droned on and I couldn’t wait for it to end.

“I wonder why he even moved here,” Aunt Jackie fake-whispered to me as she sliced a second cheesecake. “He hates everything.”

“Hush.” I elbowed my aunt, trying to quiet her.

“Jill Gardner, don’t tell me you weren’t thinking the same thing.” She started plating out the cheesecake.

A couple of the council members snickered, and Josh’s face turned a deeper red than normal. His wide girth barely fit into the black suit he wore. From what I could tell, he wore the same threadbare suit every day. Watching the buttons on his off-white shirt, I worried one would pop off each time he took a labored breath.

“As I was saying, we must press the police department to deal with felonious teenagers running the streets.” Josh didn’t acknowledge he’d heard Jackie, a tactic I’ve often used with my aunt. She’s overbearing, opinionated, speaks her mind, and I love her to death.

“There’s no problem.” Sadie Michaels replied, the words harsh and clipped. “There’s not a lot for kids to do around here, so they hang out at the park. They don’t cause problems for local businesses. We’ve raised them better than that.”

“I beg to differ. Craig Morgan, the manager over at The Castle, has caught kids breaking in after-hours. 

They’ve been having drinking parties, swimming in the pools, and he’s even caught a few couples in the mansion’s bedrooms, doing heavens knows what.” Snickers from the rest of the members floated around the room as Josh wheezed in another breath. “We must stop these criminals before there’s real trouble. The antiques housed at The Castle are priceless.”

Tour Participants

July 31 – Dru’s Book Musing – Guest Post
August 1 – Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers – Booked by Author
August 2 – Booklady’s Booknotes – Review, Guest Post, Giveaway
August 3 – Cozy Up With Kathy – Interview
August 4 – StoreyBook Reviews – Review, Guest Post
August 5 – Kaisy Daisy’s Corner – Review
August 6 – A Blue Million Books – Interview, Guest Post
August 7 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – Review
August 8 – Shelley’s Book Case – Review, Interview
August 9 – Mystery Playground – Interview,
August 10 – Community Bookstop – Review, Giveaway
August 11 – The Bookwyrm’s Hoard – Review, Interview
August 12 – Melina’s Book Blog – Review, Guest Post