Author: Sherry Harris
Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496734365
Kensington Publishing
304 Pages
$8.99; $6.99 Amazon
March 29, 2022
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Saloon owner Chloe Jackson appears to have a secret admirer. She's pouring drinks at the Sea Glass Saloon in Emerald Cove when an airplane flies by above the beach with a banner reading I LOVE YOU CHLOE JACKSON. She immediately rules out Rip Barnett. They are in the early stages of dating and no one has said the L word. Then a bouquet of lilacs -- her favorite flower -- is delivered to the bar, followed by an expensive bottle of her favorite sparkling wine. It couldn't be...
Sure enough, her ex-fiancé from Chicago has flown down to Florida for an accountants' convention. But is he trying to mix business with pleasure and win her back? Unfortunately he's not in a hotel conference room, he's floating facedown in the lake next to her house, clutching a photo of Chloe. Who murders an accountant on a business trip -- it just doesn't add up. When Rip becomes the prime suspect, Chloe is determined to find the secret murderer. But if she isn't careful, it may be closing time and lights out for her...
✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽
Chloe Jackson has given up her life as a librarian back in Chicago and moved to Emerald Cove, Florida. It's because of the will her late best friend Boone left, giving her all his worldly goods and part ownership in the bar he owned with his grandmother, Vivi. Her new romance with firefighter Rip Barnett is also starting to heat up, and she's happy at last.
But one morning while at the bar, there's a commotion and her friend Joaquin tells her to come outside. Above them is a plane with a banner reading 'I LOVE YOU CHLOE JACKSON'; and soon after she receives a huge bouquet of her favorite flowers and a magnum of her favorite sparkling wine. At first stumped that anyone would know about the flowers and the wine, she soon realizes that it might just be her ex-fiancé, Perry.
But then things go from bad to worse -- floating in the lake near her house is Perry's body -- and he's clutching a photo of her. Stunned and horrified, Chloe has no idea who would want to kill nice, boring Perry. But since there's a video of Perry and Rip having an altercation, Biffle has to list Rip and his number one suspect. Chloe isn't having it, and decides to do some investigating on her own.
Then there are the surprises that come Chloe's way -- and I won't list them here because you need to read the book -- but it puts a wrench in Chloe's plans and brings frustration because of Vivi's -- yet Chloe carries on, determined to prove Rip innocent.
What follows is an intriguing tale of Chloe trying her best to find and eliminate suspects -- some who have good reason to want Perry dead -- surprises that aren't expected, and a few humorous situations that lighten the book quite a bit. What Chloe also has is plenty of motives that could spur people to kill, including lies, secrets, and jealousy -- but what Chloe also discovers is that sometimes those closest to us can be someone we don't know at all..
In the end, I found the climax interesting and unusual, not to mention a bit unexpected; and it gives the book the final punch it needs to carry through. Ms. Harris gives us a tale that keeps us reading throughout, and we learn more about Chloe and her past, which is a good thing, as it makes her more real than before. I enjoyed this book immensely and await the next in the series (hopefully soon). Highly recommended.
I was given an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Sherry Harris's Books: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4573268803
No comments:
Post a Comment