Lynn Cahoon has written a very good mystery with an appealing main character. The setting is a winner, too, and I loved the house Cat inherited as well as learning how she and her business partner/friend Shauna had set up the retreat. This isn't the first cozy with a retreat-type setting that I've read, so I found it interesting that Cat hadn't thought to run background checks on her attendees either. That should probably be the very first tip in "Craft & Writers' Retreats for Dummies." (Don't google it; I made that title up.) I also wondered about having Seth do all that remodeling work on the house while the retreat was being held. There were supplies and tools out in the yard, a lot of hammering going on, and traffic with the aforementioned Seth and supplies on the same stairs the guests were using. As clumsy (and oblivious) as I know people can be, I would think Cat would finish the remodeling before she ran her first retreat to avoid possible injuries and law suits. I know, I know... she didn't have enough money to do it that way-- and Seth needed to be around a lot of the time.

With the exception of Shauna, Seth, and Cat's uncle, the secondary cast doesn't stand out much, and since I'm the type of mystery reader who doesn't like much romance in her whodunits, there was way too much tingling going on between Cat and Seth. Enough that I really don't care to read further in the series. But that's just me-- the love-is-in-the-air element may tickle you pink, and I hope it does.

A Story to Kill ends on a bit of a cliffhanger concerning Cat's ex-husband, and it should draw you right into the next book in the series, Fatality by Firelight. Cat Latimer is a stellar main character and so is the writers' retreat setting. If romance is your thing, add that to what you will hopefully find to be a very enjoyable mystery.

Share/Like this Review?