A Dark & Stormy Murder
By Julia Buckley
Release Date: July 5, 2016
Ebook Available from WV Reads!
3.5 - A quick and fun cozy with a lot to love for mystery fans. Lena, our heroine, is an aspiring writer slowly turning to sleuth. She kind of leaves the quirkiness to the slew of characters she meets up with in her new hometown of Blue Lake. Definitely a series worth checking out.
The story doesn't exactly start off with a bang, but Buckley's writing style and main character Lena's personality kind of sucked me in anyway. Lena's embarking on a new adventure, moving to her bestie's town, and she's getting hired by her ideal mentor as a writing assistant. Camilla is an esteemed author modeled like an Agatha Christie, Sue Grafton, or Mary Higgins Clark. She reminded me of Julie Andrews in The Princess Diaries actually. She lives in a gothic mansion I pictured from the set of a 60s movie with two adorable German Shepherds. Lena's cat is even a fan of theirs. Before Lena can really settle in, she stumbles across a dead body not far from the property.
Things continue to heat up in the plot as people start appearing to break in (or try to) at Camilla's mansion. The side characters sort of got thrown in fast here. Besides Lena, her boss, and her friend, we meet a lot of people straight off the bat. It'll be fun to see who stays in the Blue Lake circle. There's Lane, a local hardworking mother, and the housekeeper, Rhonda, who is pretty obsessed with Downton Abbey. Grouchy construction guys, restaurant workers, and a few knitters. Lots of potential favorites to choose from. Of course, most intriguing are Lena's potential beaus. First in town, she meets a hunky detective who takes an interest in her and is eager to lend her a hand. But I found Sam West more interesting, a reclusive executive type who is Camilla's closest thing to a neighbor. He has his own mystery surrounding him and his appearance in Blue Lake. A few moments got a bit over the top silly and/or dramatic. And I have to say there was some lag around the 3/4 mark. Overall, there's plenty of intrigue and excitement.
(NS)
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