Title: Death in the Romance Isle

Series: Survivors’ Book Club Mystery

By:  Lynn Cahoon

ISBN: 9781516111176 (ISBN10: 1516111176)

Website: http://www.lynncahoon.com

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra                   

Summary:

Rarity Cole is taking full advantage of her second chance at life after recovering from breast cancer—running a bookstore in Sedona and a support group for fellow survivors. She’s also discovered a knack for defeating other kinds of deadly threats . . .

Rarity is excited about expanding the romance section of her store—but not nearly as excited as her best friend Sam is about reuniting with her brother after many years. Marcus makes the trek from California to Arizona, is welcomed with a party, and hints that he may stick around now that remote work is an option.

But is it just a coincidence that not long after his arrival, a body is found near a local swimming hole? Especially considering that the dead woman had recently gone on a date with him—and even worse, that Marcus has a startling secret in his past? The police suspect him, but Rarity hopes to find another explanation before Sam is once again separated from her sibling—by prison walls . . . (Goodreads)

Review:

Call me pleasantly surprised ☺. Death in the Romance Isle by Lynn Cahoon is an engaging cozy mystery which garnered my attention from the beginning and kept me captivated throughout the entire read. I don’t usually say such things when I enter a series late, but in this case, it is appropriate.

Death in the Romance Isle begins with the main protagonist, Rarity Cole, running her bookstore (The Next Chapter – love the name) as usual. What is disconcerting is that shortly after Marcus comes to town (the brother of Rarity’s best friend – Sam Aarons), a body is found – the body of a new hire of the bookstore (Janey Ford). Janey and Marcus had just met, gone to a party and a date the next day… and then she turned up dead. Yikes! To add in a bit of complexity – previously in Marcus’ life, he was briefly thought of as a suspect in a death of a previous girlfriend (her death was later classified as a suicide). So when the body of Janey turns up in the quarry – Marcus is thought of as a prime suspect. We cannot also forget about the other new hire at the bookstore, Caleb, as a suspect as he seems to be a love struck young man for the newly departed. Ah – unrequited love. And possibly more suspects (?) as one will find out as they read this engaging story.

Rarity does have a trusty side-kick – her tan Yorkie named Killer. Love the name – especially for such a small dog, who turns out to actually be a very friendly, but protective dog of Rarity. There are, of course, many other characters in the book whom I find endearing. Unfortunately, one of them is the newly departed Janey. Sure wish we had been able to get to know her a wee bit before her demise. But such is the life of a character in a cozy mystery.

I really enjoyed the progression of another character, Shirley, throughout the story. Good to see her place of importance as oftentimes it seems that senior citizens are portrayed with a brevity as to their life experiences. In this story – that is far from it. And I loved it! 

One fact that made me bond with this book is that part of the story was centred in a couple of towns in Arizona – Sedona and Flagstaff. Flagstaff is the town I lived in for many years before my family immigrated to Canada. This definitely evoked warm and fuzzy thoughts of the location. As this is a series – I plan on going back and starting at book one – something I rarely do ☺. Okay to be fair – I also really loved that this book is centred around a book club…what is not to love about that?

As far as cozy mysteries go, Death in the Romance Isle contains many possible suspects, which the amateur sleuth works through. There are many red herrings but in the end, after much trial and tribulation, the sleuth (along with the help of the local constabulary) do solve the mystery. The other story lines were also engaging and entertaining. I am not giving many details of the solving of the mystery and I want each new reader to discover and enjoy this aspect of the story themselves. Suffice it to say – I recommend this book!I really enjoyed this story and if you were to pick up only one cozy mystery this year and you are a lover of books, might I suggest Death in the Romance Isle. Lynn Cahoon did justice to the mystery and the progression of the main character (and many others I might add) throughout the story. An enjoyable, engaging and a good whodunit right to the end. Had me guessing up to the end – just the way I like my cozy mysteries!