Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781250077783
St. Martin's Publishing
338 Pages
$7.99; $7.99 Amazon
August 30, 2016
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For a small town like Otter Lake, New Hampshire, the annual Fall Festival is a big deal: a Ferris wheel, corn maze, caramel apples, and pumpkin pies -- even a Tunnel of Love. Back in her hometown, Erica Bloom is trying to enjoy herself, which includes getting better acquainted with Sheriff Grady Forrester. But when a swan boat sails out of the heart-shaped exit of the tunnel with a dead man slumped over a wing, her own romance will have to take a backseat.
Speaking of love affairs, the other passenger in the boat -- and only witness to the elderly Mr. Masterson's swan song -- is not his wife. It's Erica's beloved and feisty "aunt," Tweety, who quickly becomes the prime suspect. Vowing to clear Tweety, Erica teams up with her sassy BFF and self-appointed security expect Freddie Ng to solve the murder -- despite the objections of Grady, who's convinced the amateurs are going overboard in their investigation. And he just may be right. But as Erica and Freddie start to dredge up long-kept, small-town secrets, will they be heading straight into troubled waters?
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Erica Bloom lives in Chicago, and has been looking forward to a visit to Otter Lake, where she grew up and couldn't wait to escape from. The reason being that there was an embarrassing incident years ago and it sent her scurrying across the country to forget it. But now that she's home again she can't wait to see her old boyfriend, now sheriff, Grady Forrester.
When she returns home to the island she grew up on, her mother, who runs spiritual retreats, is hosting a "Silence of the Soul," and isn't speaking...at all; along with any of her guests. So Erica is spending the rest of her time with her best friend Freddie, who's rich and extremely eccentric. While she's also happy to attend the annual Fall Festival with him, she's not expecting the fact that he's created his own security company - after having found an old police uniform in a thrift store and buying a huge speedboat - and has been hired by the town to patrol. So, while she and Freddie are wandering the festival, they hear a scream coming from the Tunnel of Love, and it turns out a man is dead. Yet in the swan boat with him is Erica's 'aunt' Tweety, who helped raise her on the island. It's not long before Tweety is suspected of murdering Mr. Masterson, and Erica is determined to prove her innocent.
Despite warnings to leave it alone from Tweety's twin Kit Kat, and Grady, Erica can't help herself -- and neither can Freddie. The two of them have decided they're going to solve this murder. But in doing so, she might have sabotaged her budding relationship with Grady, and the secrets that have been held so long by some are coming to the fore. Now Freddie and Erica are getting in deeper, and the victim's son Matthew, who makes no bones about his attraction to Erica, wants justice for his father at any cost. But will that cost be more than Erica is willing to pay?...
This is the second book in the series and I will say that I liked it better than the first. Freddie is a hoot, if a little over the top, and although a lot of the book was spent with Erica and Grady mooning at each other and doing nothing about it, I could look past that to get to the meat of the story.
I liked the addition of Erica's Uncle Jack. He seems down-to-earth and I really like him much better than her loony mother. I get what her mother's doing, I just don't get while she professes to love her daughter, she pretty much isn't much of a presence in her life. And when her uncle came forth with a whopper of a secret, I had to wonder why her mother despises him, especially since she turned out to be a hypocrite herself. Below is a spoiler in this, so please don't read it if you haven't read the book:
Also, if Erica's mom owns the island, how did Tweety and Kit Kat get to live there? How did Summer meet them that she would allow them to live there? Does anyone else live there, and if so, wouldn't Summer be their landlord since she owns the island? Where are the answers to these questions? Not to mention why they are named Tweety and Kit Kat. How did they get those names? Especially since their real names are Twyla and Katherine. These are not names for adults - especially adults with their personalities.
I also didn't much care for the fact that Grady's ego needed to be stoked, and therefore I rather liked Matthew more. He seemed normal, and he was able to deal with his baggage a lot better. The mystery was fine, and I did enjoy it, but things went a bit over the top and I'm not sure if I'll continue with this series, especially since it looks like either Grady can't get out of the ego thing or a love triangle might be in the future. Also, why was she even flirting with Matthew if she's interested in Grady? Who does that?
When all is said and done and the murderer was revealed, it all came together nicely, and gave us a satisfying ending. However, if Summer is just as woo-woo in the next book, I think I will be done with this series.
https://www.amazon.com/Pumpkin-Picking-Murder-Otter-Mystery/dp/1250077788/ref
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3274729932
More on Auralee Wallace's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/auralee-wallace/
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