JoAnne M. (joannefm2) - , reviewed on 4/17/2014 + 10 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

Jill Gardner owns a small bookstore/coffeeshop in South Cove, California. She moved there after a divorce and made fast friends with Miss Emily, an elderly woman who took an instant liking to her. When Emily dies suddenly, Jill has suspicions that she was murdered, since Emily never seemed sick at all. After Emily leaves everything - house, belongings, money, etc., to Jill, and people start coming out of the woodwork wanting the house, she's more than convinced of that.

While the local police detective, Greg King, warns her to leave the investigation to him, Jill knows she should, but still thinks that she would be disloyal to Emily if she didn't try and find out who killed her. And when 'accidents' and vandalism start following her around, she knows she's closer to the killer than she ought to be. It doesn't help any that she is highly attracted to the good-looking detective, and he appears to be attracted to her also, but keeps her at arms' length (sort of) while he considers it his personal mission to protect her from danger. The interaction between these two is believable and delightful.

I absolutely loved this book. It kept the mystery right up until the end, which was great. There are plenty of twists and turns, suspects, and red herrings. The plot is interesting without getting bogged down in too many extraneous details, and as Jill went through her emotions, I could amost feel them myself. I really enjoy being pulled into the story, not just reading the book and going through the motions. I have always felt that a book should draw you in, not keep you to the sidelines as a mere observer, and this book definitely fills that area. This is the author's first title in this series, and I look forward to reading the next. Highly recommended.

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