Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; [Audio CD]; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496719553; [9781690595434]
Kensington Publishing; [Dreamscape Audio]
320 Pages
$7.99; [$19.99]; $6.89 Amazon
May 6, 2020
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
It's hard to say no to Tripp Blackston. That's how Abby found herself on yet another committee, organizing a bachelors' auction to raise money for Tripp's veteran group. The former Special Forces soldier is mortified when Abby enlists him to be one of the prizes, but she has a covert plan to bid on him herself. Before she can, she's foiled by a sniper bid from a gorgeous stranger, who turns out to be Tripp's ex-wife, Valerie.
Still reeling from the shock that Tripp was married and wondering what his ex is suddenly doing in town, Abby goes looking to pay the auction's emcee, radio personality Bryce Cadigan. She finds him in the parking lot, dead in his car. Valerie appears to be the last one to have seen Bryce alive, so she's the cops' best bid for suspect. When she asks Tripp for help -- and lodgings -- ot's Abby's turn to block by inviting Val to stay with her. But did she just open her home to a murderer?
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Abby McCree lives in Snowberry Creek, Washington, after having inherited her late aunt's home and carriage house tenant, Tripp Blackston. Over the course of time she and Tripp have become closer, even though he keeps his past a secret. But he's enlisted her (without her consent) to be part of the veteran's group, and Abby has retaliated by enlisting him as one of the people who are being "auctioned off" for a date night in order to raise money for the group. What she hasn't said, though, is that she plans on making a sniper bid herself and 'winning' him. But just as she's ready to make her bid, a voice in the back of the room yells out a lot more cash than anyone expects -- and Tripp is now being paired with his ex-wife, Valerie. The ex-wife he never told her about...
When Abby sees Valerie arguing with the emcee Bryce, a local boy made good who left town, she notices it because she needs to pay him the rest of his fee. But shortly after, she hunts him down in the parking lot, and finds him dead, hanging half out of his car. Calling Sheriff Gage Logan, who's also attending the event, he tells Abby not to leave while the police figure things out. But it's not long before Valerie becomes the main suspect, and Tripp asks Abby if Valerie can stay with her - because the only other option is Tripp's small one-bedroom home. While Abby's not pleased, she'd rather host the woman she privately refers to as 'the barnacle' than have her in Tripp's home. Now Tripp has asked for Abby's help in proving Valerie innocent, and Gage has warned them both not to investigate or they'll wind up in jail. So what's the worst evil between the two - letting Gage take his time in finding the right person, or having Tripp's ex in her home - making her life miserable and a play for him...
This is the third book in the series and I am glad to say that it's just as good as the first two. I actually like Abby quite a bit, since she's not one of those women who go around blatantly accusing people of being a murderer and at least tries to couch her questions nicely. Her relationship with Tripp is growing every day, and it's nice to see that they're taking their time while they dance around each other, in more ways than one.
Naturally, I couldn't stand Valerie (and I question anyone who liked her) and couldn't wait for her to leave. It was hilarious with Abby calling her 'the barnacle' and was the main indication that Abby was jealous of the woman (although she did have other private thoughts from time to time about it); Tripp, for his part, was completely oblivious to it for the first part of the book, but while he felt sympathetic to Valerie and wanted to protect her, you could tell he was more protective of Abby, which is how it should be.
We had a few red herrings as to murder suspects - and those that were, other than Valerie, seemed to surprise us with their responses to the questions. With the ones that were out there, it seemed obvious who the murderer would wind up to be, but even still, there were surprises yet to come and although there was a hint earlier that made it easy to figure out who the killer would be, the journey getting there made all the difference.
The plot was drawn nicely with Bryce's past eventually coming out and reasons why people would have motives to murder the man; although we knew that this must be the cast all along, it was still interesting to hear the stories why. Even Valerie's reasons seemed plausible, but like Tripp, I couldn't see her doing the deed; as awful as she was, I just couldn't see her killing anyone.
While I'm becoming fond of all the main characters in this series, it's nice to keep getting glimpses of their pasts and who they are now. I really enjoying learning about them and the mystery itself is believable enough to keep you reading in one sitting. While I was sorry for the book to end, it gives me something to look forward to as I wait for the next one to make its appearance. Highly recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Auction-Abby-McCree-Mystery/dp/1496719557/ref
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3280670896
More on Alexis Morgan's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/alexis-morgan/
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