Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book; [Audio CD]
ISBN #: 9781643854625
Crooked Lane Books
311 Pages
$18.47; $12.99; [$24.99] Amazon
October 6, 2020
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Lyla Moody loves her sleepy little town of Sweet Mountain, Georgia. She likes her job as a receptionist for her uncle's private investigative firm, her fellow true crime obsessed Jane Doe members are the friends she's always wanted, and her parents just celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. But recently, with her best friend Melanie on vacation, and her ex-boyfriend and horrible cousin becoming an item and moving in next door to her, her idyllic life is on the fritz. The cherry on top of it all is finding Carol, a member of the club, dead and shoved into a suitcase, left at Lyla's front door.
Unusual circumstances notwithstanding, with Carol's heart condition, the coroner rules Carol's death undetermined. But when they discover the suitcase belongs to Melanie, who had returned from her vacation the following morning. Sweet Mountain police begin to suspect Lyla's best friend. Determined that police are following the wrong trail, to clear her friend's name, and to not allow Carol to become one of the club's studied cold cases, Lyla begins to seek out the real killer. That is, until she becomes the one sought after. Now, finding the truth could turn her into the killer's next plot twist, unless she wins the game of cat and mouse.
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Lyla Moody lives in small town Sweet Mountain, Georgia and works for her Uncle Calvin, who's a retired cop and now a private investigator. She's always been interested in true crime, but since nothing ever happens where she lives, she belongs to the Jane Doe Book Club, where the members read mysteries and discuss them.
One evening after work she's stunned to see her ex-boyfriend Kevin, along with her horrible cousin moving in across the complex from her. As if that weren't enough, her friend Melanie is still on vacation with half her own clothes. But when she finds what she thinks is Melanie's suitcase outside her door, she hauls it inside. The next morning Melanie shows up at her door, and they both realize there's a terrible smell coming from the suitcase. What they find inside is the body of their friend Carol Timms -- and then everything happens: why would someone do this? Why would they leave her in front of Lyla's apartment? Why is Lyla receiving cryptic messages similar to the last book they read?
Not to mention, her father becomes semi-involved, her mother is having a breakdown, and Carol's husband, Judge Timms, wants Lyla to investigate, thinking she's becoming a private investigator herself. When Lyla agrees, everything goes haywire. Now Lyla is in the middle of a murder, and she just might be the next victim...
This is the first book in a new series by Kate Young, and I have to say that I absolutely loved it. There was plenty of action all the time, and the only thing that bothered me is the fact that Lyla is too busy trying to tell herself that she's better than men -- she doesn't need one, she's independent, she can take care of herself, etc. -- that she misses the big picture. Maybe if she just stopped and sat back the right man would come along that understands her desire to solve cold cases. I guess we'll see in the next book.
Anyway, that notwithstanding, Lyla is a fairly smart woman who is able to think quickly which helps in keeping her out of danger. She manages to find the clues she needs to put everything together, and while this book isn't what I would call a true cozy, it still keeps one interested right through the ending.
Although I figured out who the murderer was before Lyla did, it was still intriguing to watch her as she figured it all out. Ms. Young writes with a flair that pulls the reader in while making the characters almost leap off the page. They are animated and believable, and that is what a book is supposed to do.
When we come to the ending, it gives us a sense of satisfaction as there are no cliffhangers, which I absolutely abhor; and leaves us waiting eagerly for the next in the series. Highly recommended.
More on Kate Young's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/y/kate-young/
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