Death by Intermission

This is the first cozy I’ve read by this author and it won’t be the last! I really enjoyed Abby and Tripp and their friends in Snowberry Creek. We get to know the characters well through actions and realistic conversations. That includes the conversations between Abby and her visiting mother, Phoebe. The complex mystery kept me guessing. Abby’s mother is visiting from Seattle. Ever since she met Owen, owner of a new BBQ restaurant, she has much more of an interest in visiting her daughter. They are at the last movie in the park event for the summer, and the closest thing Abby and the former Special Forces soldier who rents her guesthouse, Tripp, will have to a date. Their friendship has progressed slowly; he is attending college and doesn’t have much free time. Mostly he has helped get her out of trouble when looking into a few little murders. Phoebe and Owen’s “canoodling” puts a damper on Abby’s enjoyment of one of her favorite movies. Abby is volunteered for many things by the mayor’s assistant. Tonight, she must help clean up the park before they leave. Phoebe helps Abby pick up trash while Owen and Tripp help in other areas. As she picks up trash near the woods, she sees a lounge chair a few feet into the woods with empty beer cans around it. Phoebe shook the shoulder of the man on the chair to send him on his way, but he won’t wake up. She can feel that his shirt is wet, and assumes it is from the beer. Then they realize there is blood on her hands and the man is dead. Owen recognizes the dead man as Mitch, the new insurance rep who took over for Don Davidson after his recent death. Gage, the chief of police, sees that Mitch was stabbed and the murder weapon that everyone else has missed. A chef’s knife is identified as one of Owen’s, and Phoebe is furious that he is held for questioning, convinced he will be railroaded. Abby doesn’t want to get involved in another murder investigation, but to have peace from her mother, she manages to ask questions here and there, especially of her close friends, the ladies in the quilt guild, also friends of her late Aunt Sybil, from whom she inherited the home she lives in. I love this group of friends! Some people think it is odd that her closest friends are much older than she is. I don’t. She is very content with her new life, even if Phoebe isn’t. There are funny, laugh-out-loud moments interspersed with sweetness of her and Tripp growing closer, tension with Phoebe, and times of fear when Abby herself becomes a target. Tripp and her 95-pound Mastiff, Zeke, are charged with keeping her and Phoebe safe. The mother-daughter aspect brought insights that I had not considered before, one of the things our moms fear most. This enjoyable mystery is fast paced with plot twists that offer various suspects. It took a community effort to find the clue that narrows down the suspect pool and reveals quite a long-term scheme. There are still surprises; even Phoebe gets in the act of stopping whodunit in their tracks! I highly recommend this mystery and series to fans of well-written cozy mysteries, novels that include an eclectic mix of ages and backgrounds, a complex mystery, and a setting that I will be back to visit! From a thankful heart: I received a copy of this novel from Amazon through a Goodreads First Read contest, and this is my honest review.