Monday, May 4, 2020

Prologue to Murder (A Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery #2)

Author:  Lauren Elliott
Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781496720207
Kensington Publishing
336 Pages
$5.69; $5.41 Amazon
April 30, 2019

⭐⭐


Gossip columnists love a bold-faced name -- but "Miss Newsy" at Greyborne Harbor's local paper seems to specialize in bold-faced lies.  She's pointed a finger of suspicion at Addie after librarian June Winslow never makes it home from a book club meeting.  And when June's found at the bottom of a steep flight of stairs, Addie's not only dealing with a busybody, but a dead body.

It's a good thing the guy she's dating is the police chief.  But both the case and her love life get moe complicated when a lanky blonde reporter from Los Angeles shows up.  She's trying her hardest to drive a wedge between the couple...as if Addie doesn't have enough problems dealing with angry townspeople.  Despite all the rumors, Addie doesn't know a thing about the murder -- but she plans to find out.  And the key may lie in a book about pirate legends that June published.  Now she just has to hunt down the clues before she becomes a buried treasure herself...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Addie Greystone owns a bookstore in Greystone Harbor, named after her family.  When the body of town librarian June Winslow is discovered, thanks to the local gossip column, everyone thinks Addie had something to do with it and are now shunning her.  She also discovers that police chief Marc, whom Addie has just started seeing, has been visited by his old flame, Lacey Davenport.  It doesn't help when Marc's sister wants Addie to back off and let Lacey have him, even though Marc assures her they're done; or that new doctor Simon has shown up and is interested in Lacey himself.

Then June's daughter visited Addie at the bookstore, giving her a box of her mother's things that contain an old treasure map.  Addie's convinced that this is the reason June was murdered, and convinces Marc that this is the reason June was killed.  Even if he disbelieves it, he wants to stay close to Addie, since Simon is going along with her theories.  So the three set out to discover the truth, but someone wants her out of it for good...

This is the second book in the series, and I have to say that it greatly disappointed me.  While I might have been interested in the mystery, two things that I absolutely detest occurred to stop it:  the entrance of the 'evil nemesis,' in the form of Lacey; and the beginning of a love triangle.  I absolutely abhor these things, and from what I can tell of future books, it doesn't get any better.  I've quit reading other series because of this.  There was no reason to bring in Simon, except to cause tension.  I did like Marc; not so much Simon; and unfortunately, this will be my last book in the series.  I'm not interested enough to continue because so much time is taken up with the 'will-she-or-won't-she' angle.  Let me put it this way: if it were one man stringing along two women, people would think he's a dog, or worse.  But for some reason it's fine if a female character does it?  No thank you.  Not for me.

Because of this, I couldn't even get into the mystery, due to the fact that every time something happened, one or the other would show up, and then the second man would show up right afterward.  Good way to ruin the mystery angle.  Things like this actually dull my enjoyment of a book.

At any rate, when the ending comes and the murderer is revealed, it didn't really interest me anymore, and I didn't care about the reason why June was killed.  Sorry to say it, but it is what it is.

https://www.amazon.com/Prologue-Murder-Bookstore-Mystery-Elliott/dp/1496720202/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3318141755

More on Lauren Elliott's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/e/lauren-elliott/

No comments:

Post a Comment

Battered and Buried (An All-Day Breakfast Cafe Mystery Book 7)

Author:     Lena Gregory Genre:      Mystery Paperback; Digital Book ISBN #:     9781960511584 Beyond the Page Publishing 188 Pages $14.99; ...