A dead priest, a mobster, and two Blue Hawaiians…
When the state police try to pin the murder of a shady Catholic priest on piano tuner Sammy Young, she works against the clock to clear her name — and find the real killer. With the help of a cake-loving church secretary, a prospective boyfriend, and the town detective, Sammy delves into the reverend’s dark underworld of seedy business dealings and backroom poker games. As word spreads that Sammy is a prime suspect, her carefree career could meet an untimely end thanks to the rumor mill. But with the culprit still on the loose, the case of who killed the popular preacher only uncovers a series of secrets, lies, and dead ends. Will it take more than a prayer and a creepy caretaker to prove that this piano-loving sleuth didn’t finish off the infamous father? (Summary via Amazon)
What do you get when you have characters like a priest, a mobster, a tattoo artist, and a piano tuner??? No, not a bar joke! You get an amazing new debut cozy mystery. This book had me laughing out loud in places and on the edge of my seat in others. This cozy covers it all from murder and mystery to suspense and intrigue.
Sammy Young is a piano tuner in the small town of Rooks Creek,IL. She loves her work. She feels the music flow through her and knows that every piano (baby) is different. We all have our days when things can get hairy at work and Sammy is no exception. She ends up getting a call from the church secretary, Mary Jean, at St Xavier's saying there is a piano emergency and she needs to come today. When she gets there she realizes it really isn't an emergency since the cover on the piano has an inch of dust on it! Uuuggghhhh! Then to top it off she hasn't been paid from the church for all the other repairs she has done totaling about $500 dollars. She is beyond frustrated but calms down when she sits to play after she has meticulously fixed the baby. She begins to go to her own world until Father "Mick" Shawnessy shows up and gives her his condescending and arrogant attitude. She finally tells him how she feels about not being paid and storms out of the church. When she gets to her car she realizes she doesn't have all her equipment and has to go back the next day after she cools down.
When she returns the next morning she notices all of her equipment in a straight line on the bench and the cover back on. She takes the cover off to play the piano just to make sure everything is in tune and finds that it sounds like a sick cat! She lifts the lid to find more than a bad wire she finds Father Mick dead!!! She screams and runs out.
After calling 911 her life will never be the same. She is now the prime suspect and in a small town that is death to a small business owner. People are cancelling left and right. So she decides she is going to have to investigate herself if she wants to keep afloat. This is when she starts to meet some interesting people like Jack Thorton, tattoo artist and very easy on the eyes. Then she ends up in the underbelly of Rooks Creek as well as high society. Talk about the gamit of suspects!
Will Sammy be able to clear her name and save herself and her business or will her musical ear be silenced forever???
This is a wonderful, fast paced must read debut cozy. I can't wait for book two.
Review by Penny M.
No comments:
Post a Comment