Review: Rockets’ Dead Glare by Lynn Cahoon

Genre:
Cozy Mystery

Format:
E-ARC

Publisher:
Lyrical Underground

Release Date:
June 5, 2018







Synopsis from Goodreads:

As sunny South Cove, California, gears up for their annual Fourth of July celebrations, a local murder threatens to kill the fireworks . . .

South Cove’s local businesses are up in arms after volunteer fire chief Barry Gleason threatens to shut down anyone who doesn’t comply with the fire code. But when Barry schedules a training burn in an old abandoned barn, he is the only one who doesn't come out alive. Jill Gardner—owner of Coffee, Books, and More—smells murder in the ashes. She’ll have to work quickly to nab a killer with a short fuse—or else everyone’s holiday will end with a fizzle .

My Review

It’s July 4th in South Cove, California and the town is busy preparing for the festivities. Unfortunately, there’s always someone out to spoil the fun. This time it’s the fire chief Barry Gleason.

The fire chief does inspections of many of the local businesses and finds they have fire code violations, including Jill Gardner’s Coffee, Books, and More. He threatens each business with closure if they don’t comply within the week. This would mean they would be closed during one of the biggest tourist times of the year. The business owners are determined to stop this from happening.

When Barry conducts a fire training in an abandoned barn, it all goes up in flames. Barry never comes out. The police are convinced this wasn’t an accident and Barry was murdered. Despite her detective boyfriend’s warnings, Jill takes matters into her own hands to find a killer.

I absolutely love this series. I’ve adored every one of the books in the Tourist Trap Mystery series and this is no exception. This is a novella so it’s shorter than the others, but it is filled with just as much drama, excitement and romance as the longer length books. I absolutely devoured this one and read it in just a couple of hours.  It's the perfect book to read at this time of the year.

Lynn Cahoon knows how to keep readers guessing to the end. I don’t think you have to read the previous books to enjoy this one, but it’s so much fun to get to know Jill and her friends. Starting with book #1 is a real treat. These books are fast-paced with the perfect cozy mystery setting - small town and a book store!




For reading challenges:
Cloak & Dagger Reading Challenge 2018
Cruisin’ thru the Cozies Reading Challenge 2018
Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge 2018

FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.