Publisher: Berkley
Date published:
February
5, 2013
ISBN: 978-0425251676
Genre: cozy
mystery
Book format: Paperback
Obtained via: Publisher
Reviewed by
name and email address: Gina Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com
Four months
after being offered a full time position as an literary agent for the Novel
Idea Agency Lila Wilkins’s life is pretty darn good. She has a job she loves, a cozy cottage, a
great guy and her son, Trey, is coming into his own. Well, maybe things with
Trey aren’t quite what she would like, but he seems to be thriving at the
nature based co-op. Things are busy at the agency with reading queries,
requesting manuscripts and now planning Inspiration Valley’s first Book and
Author Festival. Oh…and Lila is tasked with hiring the agency’s new intern. Her
job becomes decidedly easier when Vicky comes on the scene and takes things
well in hand.
The festival
kicks off with a bang. Authors and readers converge on the town and Lila finds a
few gems during pitch sessions. She also meets a woman, Melissa Plume, who
bears a very strong resemblance to her. You’d almost think they were related.
Things don’t
turn out quite the way she expects. In fact, they take a decided downturn when
Melissa turns up dead. Despite her police officer gentleman friend, Sean’s, admonitions,
Lila can’t help but start her own query into the murder. When another woman
turns up dead she has to wonder if maybe she’s the next victim.
Things become a
tad more complicated when Trey confesses things at the Co-op aren’t quite what
he expected. Things are changing up on
the mountain and he’s not all that happy to be excluded. More than unhappy he
believes something nefarious may be doing on. Concerned for her son but wanting to support
him in making his own decisions Lila does what she can to help. When Trey has
to flee the Co-op Lila finds herself caught in the middle.
Can Lila find the killer before he…or she…finds her?
I warmed up a bit more to Lila in Lucy Arlington’s second book
in their Novel Idea Mystery series, EVERY
TRICK IN THE BOOK. There were still
times when at one point she would seem like a giddy teen and then abruptly change
into a mature woman. The dating scenes with her and Sean, or the dates they
tried to have, seemed a tad forced at times. As a cozy mystery I don’t expect
romance so what there is can add some wonderful flavour to a story.
I liked the idea of the book and author festival. What a great setting for a mystery! The characters attending were entertaining and
the “submissions” were fun to read. I wasn’t keen on the scenes that took place
around the Co-op. For me that thread was kind of boring.
My personal jury is out on Vicky, the new intern. She’s just too
wonderful. You have to wonder if she is as terrific as she sounds or if she’s
hiding some deep dark secret that will come out somewhere along the way. She
may look like a sweet retired librarian but I suspect there’s a whole lot more
going on below that kind exterior.
I’m looking forward to the next book in this series and where
the authors take Lila and her family.
This is an objective review and not an endorsement of
this book.
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