COZY MYSTERIES JUST GOT TOUGHER.
A man in hiding. A gang of outlaws searching for retribution. This is no time for cupcakes.
Today is Brody Steele’s first day as the new owner of The Red Herring, Pleasant Valley, Maine’s only mystery bookstore. The cute shop has a loyal customer base as well as an ornery cat.
Unfortunately, Brody doesn’t know the first thing about running a legitimate business, he doesn’t want to be in the small town, and he hates cats. On top of all that, he hasn’t read a book since high school.
When a woman walks into the store, he thinks his bad luck is about to change. But as she starts asking about the previous owner’s whereabouts, his safe new existence begins to unravel.
For Brody Steele is a man with a secret he must protect at all costs. The U.S. Government has invested a lot to keep it hidden, and his enemies will stop at nothing to expose him.
Does happiness or death await Brody in this charming seaside community?
IN A NUTSHELL
Fun from the first page to the last. A cozy mystery with attitude. It made me smile and kept me guessing. I’ll be back for more.
Colin Conway was a new author for me. I’d never heard of this series. I found a list that BookBub sent me, which said that Amazon was offering the first book of the series for free. The cover looked cool, and the premise was intriguing, so I downloaded it. I’m very glad I did. Now I have a whole new series to read.
Writing a Cozy Mystery set in a tiny coastal town in Maine, with a protagonist who runs a bookstore called ‘The Red Herring’ that specialises in mysteries and has a resident cat, sounds like very familiar territory… until you meet the protagonist, currently going by the name Brody Steele. He’s new in town, he doesn’t read, he doesn’t know anything about mystery novels, and he hates cats.
Part of the fun of the book comes from discovering who Brody is and why he’s in Maine. Part of it comes from seeing the impact the people of the small town have on Brody, who is out of his depth but, to his surprise, is having fun.
Add in a plot that includes Brody being in conflict with the mob and a biker gang, and you have a recipe for mayhem.
I liked Brody. I even liked the small town. The humour worked for me. The plot moved at just the right pace. I found myself smiling as I read this. It was a fast, light, entertaining read that left me keen to read the rest of the Cozy Up series and to try some of Colin Conway’s other books.
Here’s what Colin Conway says about himself on his website .
“Colin Conway writes in multiple crime fiction genres including cozy mysteries, police procedural, private detective, amateur sleuth, and thriller. He’s published over thirty books in a variety of series.
His love for crime fiction started while serving in the U.S. Army. That’s when he discovered authors likes Lawrence Block, Andrew Vachss, and John D. MacDonald. Colin’s interest in writing developed while working as a police officer in Spokane, Washington.
His creative secret is Rose the Office Dog, his constant companion.”
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