Author: J.C. Eaton
Genre: Mystery
Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781960511058
Beyond The Page Publishing
202 Pages
$14.99; $3.99 Amazon
March 21, 2023
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When softball fever overtakes Sun City West, foul balls and foul play add up to murder...When a member of the local pinochle club rallies everyone in the community to come cheer on the softball team he's joined, Sophie "Phee" Kimball can't imagine a worse way to spend a free afternoon. But before anyone can take them out to the ball game, her mother's friend Shirley spots a dead body, only to have it vanish before anyone else sees it. Soon Shirley and her friends can't decide whether she's losing her marbles or being stalked by the living dead -- until an attempt is made on her life.
Wondering if the body Shirley saw belongs to a missing ballplayer who may have been murdered, Phee begins to suspect that Shirley's in danger from a menacing killer. Following the clues at the ball park and eyeing the crowd for a likely perpetrator, she devises a clever scheme to sniff out the culprit, but she'll have to act fast before she strikes out for the last time!
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Sophie Kimball-Gregory is newly married and works for a private investigator in Arizona as a bookkeeper/accountant. She's happy in her new life. Well, almost. There's the fact that her mother Harriet lives in Sun City West, and she and her book club ladies keep Phee busy trying to convince her that there's people after them (really).
But when Harriet's friend Shirley Johnson insists she saw a dead body, Phee and her PI husband Marshall go to investigate -- along with the ladies who insist on coming -- there's no body and no indication there ever was. While Shirley wonders if she's going crazy, Phee and Marshall aren't so sure. Especially when Shirley has an attempt on her life and she swears she saw the same body in another location. Eventually the body of the dead man turns up, and it also is discovered he was a member of the local senior softball team, the one their friend Herb just joined.
Now the PIs are not only involved in a fraud case, they're looking into the possibility that Shirley did see what she claims -- and that the dead man, Buster, had a lot of enemies who all had motive and opportunity. Phee is working to find out the truth, under the radar, of course, and what she finds isn't pretty. Especially when there's a killer on the loose...
This is the eleventh book in the series and I have loved them all. The author(s) have done another excellent job of bringing the characters to life, and what characters they are. Phee's mother Harriet is a hoot, as always, and her Chiweenie Streetman is his usual mischievous self, although in this book he has at least managed to put some decorum in his behavior (until he finds a reason not to, and it's funny as can be). Then there's a scene with Harriet's on-air companion Paul, who thinks of nothing but fishing, that has you laughing aloud (at least it did me, and I had to read it to my husband, who wanted to know what was so funny). That scene alone is worth reading the entire book, and no, I am not going to give any part of it away.
When Phee gets into her investigating, she's surprised at what she finds out about Buster. Passing the information along to the PIs, Nate and Marshall, she continues on and decides that she needs to go undercover to get the info she wants. That also turns out to be chaos, and Paul is right there with her for the ride.
When the ending comes, we have a chaotic scene as well, and Phee doesn't let the opportunity pass. It's a lot of fun and laughter as well, and I applaud the author(s) for their ability to keep things moving along and keep us interested throughout the book. The mystery was done very well, and I look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
Goodreads: TBA
More on J.C. Eaton's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/e/j-c-eaton/
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