My Fair Latte (A Cafe Cinema Mystery #1)

Author:  Vickie Fee
Genre:   Mystery

Hardcover; Trade Paperback: Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781635115826; 9781635115796
Henery Press Publishing
258 Pages
$31.95; $15.95; $4.99 Amazon
March 3, 2020

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Broke, unemployed barista Halley Greer is shocked when she inherits an Art Deco movie palace from the great uncle she remembers meeting once as a child.  She moves to the charming tourist town of Utopia Springs, Arkansas to claim her legacy.

In addition to the timeworn theater, she discovers she's also inherited a trash-heaped apartment, family secrets, her uncle's friends, a stealthy calico kitty -- and an adversary.

With a whole latte  help from her new friends, the feisty barista fixes up and re-opens the theater as a coffee and wine bar, showing classic films.  She generates some steam with a hunky local -- and risks getting burned.  The opening night of My Fair Lady looks like a big hit, and her new life feels like a bit of movie magic, until a customer turns up dead during intermission.

With the cops eyeing her as a suspect, Halley digs into the victim's life and runs into a tangle of blackmail and secrets.  Can Hailey and her friends unmask a killer before the curtain comes down for keeps?

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Halley Greer didn't even know her great-uncle Leon - but he's left her everything he had, which includes not only an old Art Doc movie palace, his apartment, boxes of his belongings, and a calico cat named Eartha Kitty.  Now she's moved to Utopia Springs, Arkansas to see if she can make a go of it.

Luckily, she's also inherited his best friends, George and Trudy Mayfield, who have made her feel welcome and introduced her to others, especially Kendra, who's Halley's age and owns Escape Rooms across the street.  While she and Kendra have become fast friends, Halley's decided to make the movie theater her own by offering a coffee and wine bar (and of course, movie snacks) along with the classic movies she intends to show, beginning with My Fair Lady.

What she doesn't count on is a dead body on opening night.  Or the fact that she's seen the man before, peeking in her windows.  Or the fact that the police think she's the main suspect.  So she and Kendra, along with a bit of help from Trudy and George, decide to hunt down the killer on their own- discreetly, of course.  But when Halley realizes that the police are onto them, they realize they need to up their game..but then again, so does the killer...

This is the first in a new series by Vicki Fee, who is a talented writer.  Even if you're not interested in classic movies (as I am), you should find this interesting.  Halley has a troubled past and is slightly broken emotionally, which makes her eager to reach out to the new people around her who want to become part of her new life.  It's subtle but lovely to watch.

The mystery itself is shrouded not only in the present, but the past also and comes off as completely believable.  Old stories and legends surround many areas of the country, and this one could be part of that.  I do love old legends and read about them frequently.

Much of the book is about Halley establishing her new life; deciding what will work in her theater as she meets the people of Utopia Springs; but it also brings her in contact with those same people who could, just as well, have one of them as the murderer.  While we aren't given a lot of background on many of those, we do learn about both Halley and Kendra's past, and it explains a lot about the people they are.  George and Trudy are a hoot, and I love the fact that they're playing major roles in the book.

When Halley discovers the murderer, it comes as a bit of a surprise, but the clues are there if you look for them.  I do like how the climax came about, and the reason for the murder was, while as old as time, thoroughly convincing.  This is a delightful start to a new series and I wait eagerly for the next.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Fair-Latte-Caf%C3%A9-Cinema-Mystery/dp/1635115795/ref=

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3186349302

More on Vickie Fee's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/f/vickie-fee/

Malice in Maggody (Arly Hanks #1)

Author:  Joan Hess
Genre: Mystery

Four Stars

The last crime wave to hit Maggody, Arkansas, happened eight years back when a farmer's barn burned down and caught two teens in flaming delicto.  That's why Arly Hanks, back in the Ozarks after her marriage went sour in the Big Apple, figured taking the local sheriff's job would give her some needed R & R.  What she got was M & M - murder and malice.  First Raz Buchanon's favorite hunting dog was snatched, then an EPA official (who okayed dumping sewage in the town's favorite fishing hole) disappeared...and then a pretty barmaid turned up dead at the Flamingo Motel from real unnatural causes.  Now Arly's in danger of landing up the creek without a paddle - where the quiet of the Ozarks may be shattered by the sounds of death.

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Arly Hanks is the sheriff of small-town Maggody, Arkansas.  Her office consists of herself and her deputy, Paulie Buchanon.  Things around town are quiet enough until there is an uproar over the possible pollution of the town's swimming/fishing hole.  When an EPA employee arrives in town, things begin to happen...

Things as in the EPA representative disappears.  Completely.  Then there is an escaped convict, Carl Withers, too.  So the state troopers are called in to find them, and the head trooper, Sergeant Plover, has rubbed Arly the wrong way, and while there isn't fighting, there is certainly animosity between them (even if it is temporary.)  When the local barmaid, Jaylee, is found dead at the Flamingo Motel (also owned by Arly's mother, Ruby Bee), things begin to heat up.

Now I could go into all the things happening in this book and all the characters - and there are a lot.  There is Ruby Bee, aforesaid owner of the motel and also a local bar and grill, Estelle, Ruby Bee's best friend and the local hairdresser, the four members of the city council who hired Arly (one of which who constantly rubs her the wrong way), and several other denizens who hang around the story and add a little local color; but there are too many to mention, so I won't.

The story itself was good: a missing man, a dead waitress, an escaped convict - who happened to be married to the dead waitress.  They all tie in together, and it was a pleasant enough read, even for an older book.

What I didn't like is that Ruby Bee and Estelle - 55 and 53, respectively - were referred to as "old women."  Old women?  Really?  That was a little offensive to almost any woman I would think.  I also didn't like the fact that both Arly and Sergeant Plover, even while off duty, drink beer and then get behind the wheel of a car.  Not a good idea, even if you've had only one beer.  This always rankles me in a book, that the author decides to allow their characters to drink and drive.  The last thing that bothered me was her name:  Her given name is Ariel, but her nickname is Arly?  How?  The nickname for Ariel would probably be Arie, not Arly.  You'd think Arly would be the nickname for Arlene, or something along those lines.  It just seemed "off" somehow.

Aside from these three things, I think the book is decent for the beginning of a series, and I will read the next to see if I will continue to do so.  Recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Malice-Maggody-Arly-Hanks-Mystery/dp/0451402367/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1205505056