Author: Laura Gail Black
Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781639100965
Crooked Lane Books
288 Pages
$26.99; $13.99 Amazon
September 6, 2022
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The birds are singing, books are selling, and the Hokes Bluff Inn has begun to host weddings on its property. Antiquarian bookseller Jenna Quinn loves the romance in the air -- until her ex-fiancé, Blake Emerson, walks in with his bride-to-be, Missy Plott. Blake continues to profess his love for Jenna if she'll have him back, no matter the consequences. And the the consequences are grave, indeed, when Missy turns up dead.
All evidence points to Blake, who was the last one to see her alive. He begs Jenna to help him clear his name. Blakes mother, Gwendolyn, is also bent on exonerating her son. Jenna doesn't believe Blake could have killed Missy, and she starts digging for suspects. If could have been Missy's ex-boyfriend, who proclaims a love for her he says only death could sever. Or might it have been Missy's bitter little sister, who was secretly besotted with Missy's ex?
Evidence turns up that links Missy's death to embezzlement and another murder -- crimes that had falsely implicated Jenna herself less than a year ago. As Gwendolyn continues to beg Jenna to help prove her son's innocence, Jenna wonders if Blake could truly be innocent.
Jenna has to choose whether to risk it all -- her reputation, her growing relationship with her boyfriend, and maybe her life -- or let a possibly innocent man go to prison.
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Jenna Quinn, after being unfairly accused of embezzlement and murder in another city, moved here to take over her murdered uncle's (another story) bookstore. Now a proud business owner in town, she's made friends and even has a new boyfriend that's a detective on the police force. All seems well in her world until one day her ex-fiancé Blake Emerson walks into her bookstore with his new fiancée, Missy Plott, who was a co-worker at their company.
But when Missy starts harassing her, Jenna can't wait to get them out the door. But things aren't over that easy -- Blake keeps returning, trying to speak with her. He even goes so far as to seem to be stalking her. Jenna doesn't want anything to do with the man who handed her a key to a storage unit where her things were kept the day she was released from jail; yet he won't let it go. Even when he's not around, Missy and her friends are there to keep Jenna's life in turmoil.
When 'accidents' start to befall Jenna, she's angry; but it gets worse when the body of Missy is found behind a dumpster. And when the police arrest Blake for the murder, Jenna knows the man is a worm, but she also knows he's not capable of murder. Now things are escalating as Blake's mother begs her for help and Jenna's boyfriend Keith has a fight with her. Will she be able to find the real murderer? Will her relationship with Keith take a dark turn? Or will Jenna manage to stay away from a killer this time?...
This is the third book in the series and I have read all of them. I do think that this one is the best of the three. It not only gives us more insight into Jenna's past, but also the reasons that she is the way she is with her insecurities. It also shows us how strong friendships with others work. The love is there, not only with her friends, but with Keith as well. It's a very good story with a very good mystery.
The clues are difficult to find, but I did love this book anyway. The plot, as I stated above, is very good. We have plenty of suspects, from friends to relatives, and most of them have a reason to want Missy out of the picture. There is a lot going on, but it is the conversations between the characters that pull us into the story and keep us riveted to the page. This is what writing is about. Conversations that tell the story, along with action. These conversations are telling, heartfelt, and chilling, depending upon who is speaking.
And what a storyteller Ms. Black is, in this tale. It is one of the best I have read in a very long time, and gives me reason to want to read the next in the series immediately (please). When the murderer is revealed, the reason is rather sad but nonetheless twisted all the same. All in all, a very good mystery that one can 'dig your teeth into' and come out smiling. Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Laura Gail Black's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/laura-gail-black/
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