Book Review: Guidebook to Murder

Book: Guidebook to Murder (A Tourist Trap Mystery book #1) by Lynn Cahoon

Edition: Digital

Description:

In the gentle coastal town of South Cove, California, all Jill Gardner wants is to keep her store--Coffee, Books, and More--open and running. So why is she caught up in the business of murder?

When Jill's elderly friend, Miss Emily, calls in a fit of pique, she already knows the city council is trying to force Emily to sell her dilapidated old house. But Emily's gumption goes for naught when she dies unexpectedly and leaves the house to Jill--along with all of her problems. . .and her enemies. Convinced her friend was murdered, Jill is finding the list of suspects longer than the list of repairs needed on the house. But Jill is determined to uncover the culprit--especially if it gets her closer to South Cove's finest, Detective Greg King. Problem is, the killer knows she's on the case--and is determined to close the book on Jill permanently. . .




Rating: 3 stars

Review:

Guidebook to Murder was a good story with an okay mystery. This cozy mystery centers around bookstore/coffee shop owner Jill Gardner trying to figure out if her friend the elderly, Miss Emily was murdered. Things become complicated when Jill inherits Miss Emily's house and all Miss Emily's problem's fighting with the South Cove city council over the house not being up to code. Not to mention the town's Mayor Baylor and a real estate developer Eric Ammond were strongly trying to encourage Miss Emily to sell her house prior to her death.

Jill's investigation was turning up more suspects and motives but things become even more complicated when her best friend Amy Newman goes missing. Amy, who works for the city council, was planning to look into something for Jill about a suspicious letter that was sent to Miss Emily.

Despite Police Detective Greg King trying to keep Jill from investigating and wanting her to stay safe (she was being threaten on a regular basis), she was going to do everything she could to solve the case and find her missing friend. This should have been a more interesting mystery but it took a backseat to focus on Jill renovating the house and trying to get it up to code throughout most of the story.

This isn't a bad story, it has interesting characters and there were moments that were suspenseful but more attention should have been focused on the mystery. Jill was able to find a few clues here and there but with most of her time at the house, the clues and suspects sort of found there way to her. The setting for this story was so restrictive, for instance Jill owned a small business Coffee, Books and More but her time and attention was focused on her newly inherited house (and all its problems) that she needed to call in her Aunt Jackie to help run her store.

If I read the second book, I'm hoping the setting won't be as restrictive to allow the mystery to unfold more naturally. The funny thing is, this isn't the first book I've read from this series, I previously read the sixth book, Murder on Wheels. That book was fun and interesting and made me want to read the series from the beginning. As I said before this first book wasn't bad, it's just that the mystery and solving it should have been the main focus.