Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; [Audio CD]; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496719546; [9781974971459]
Kensington Publishing; [Dreamscape Publishing]
304 Pages
$7.99; [$29.99]; $5.99 Amazon
August 27, 2019
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The small town of Snowberry Creek, Washington, is gearing up for the Halloween Festival, and naturally Abby is on the planning committee. As part of her duties, she's picking up a pumpkin order from ornery farmer Ronald Minter. But what she finds instead is the farmer in the middle of his corn maze with a knife in his back.
The police suspect a homeless veteran named Kevin Montgomery, who was seen arguing with Minter when the farmer accused him of trespassing and stealing pumpkins. Abby's tenant Tripp Blackston, a veteran himself who's been helping Kevin, is sure he's innocent. Together, Abby and Tripp follow the twists and turns of the case to corner the corn maze killer -- before someone else meets a dead end...
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Abby McCree is a young divorceé who inherited her late aunt's home in small-town Snowberry Creek, Washington. It's getting close to Halloween, and she's on one of the planning committees. But she has more on her mind -- her tenant, ex-Special Forces soldier Tripp Blackston, often has trouble sleeping and walks around, and she's seen him head to the park with a full backpack and come back with it empty. So on this night, she decides to allow her curiosity get the better of her and follows him, which isn't a good idea. Mostly because she's accosted by a man who sneaks up behind her and she soon discovers that he's Sergeant Kevin Montgomery, and a friend of Tripp's. Once she meets him and realizes he's having problems, she promises Tripp she'll stay out of it.
But the next day she's having coffee in town and sees him in an altercation with an ornery farmer, Ronald Minter, who accuses him of trespassing and stealing pumpkins from him. Before the altercation can get physical, Montgomery walks back into the park and the forest. But that's not all -- someone is carving pumpkins with very lifelike features and leaving them on peoples' porches around town. It's a puzzle no one seems to be able to figure out.
Then Abby is asked to take her elderly friend Glenda out to Minter's farm to get a box of pumpkins for the Halloween Festival, and she gladly agrees. Because it's raining, she tells Glenda to stay in the car and she'll get them. But she can't find Minter anywhere, so she checks to see if he's in his corn maze -- and he is. Dead. After calling the cops, Police Chief Gage Logan shows up with detectives from elsewhere, since it's their jurisdiction. After being questioned, Abby leaves and figures that will be the end of it. But little does she know that both she and Tripp will be pulled into the investigation, and it will get worse. Montgomery is suspected of the crime, and Abby doesn't think he's guilty. Will she be able to find a killer before an innocent man is arrested for murder?
This is the second book in the series and I enjoyed it immensely. Abby is a delightful character; she's strong, independent, intelligent, has a fierce sense of loyalty; yet she's also soft-hearted and at times a tad (shall we say) overly curious. She stands up for what she believes in, and doesn't back away from confrontations.
The dialogue is witty and fun, and there were many humorous moments along with the somber. It kept the story moving along at a rapid pace, and therefore I read it in one sitting (without even getting up for a new cup of coffee. High praise indeed). The townspeople are more involved in this tale, and we are seeing that Abby's friendship with many of them is growing. While as in any story there are unlikable characters, at least in this one there is a reason for them being around, and it only made it more convincing.
The mystery is, of course, the reason for the story, and it is quite intriguing. While of course we know Sergeant Montgomery isn't the killer, there is a lot of fun looking for the person who may be so. Since I read a lot of these mysteries, I was pretty sure I knew the answer, but it's the journey that is the most fun to see the reason why Minter was murdered. And it's one I don't think anyone could have discovered, yet finding out the identity of the murderer is rather sad. The reasons people kill will never cease to amaze me, even when those reasons are age-old.
In the end, everything comes together perfectly just the way it should be, and we are given a bit of a tease regarding the next book (but I will tell you that this book doesn't 'hold you hostage' because I absolutely detest authors who do that). This author, while new, is a welcome addition to the cozy genre and I eagerly await the next in the series. Recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Jack-Lantern-McCree-Mystery/dp/1496719549/ref=
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3246208388
More on Alexis Morgan's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/alexis-morgan/
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