Summary
Callie Reed arrives at her Aunt Mel’s music box store in “Keepsake Cove” for a long overdue reunion. But before they have time to do much catching up, Mel is dead and Callie has inherited her aunt’s store and cottage.
Callie’s not convinced Mel’s death was an accident. While she tries to get settled into her new home and learn about her new business, she also tries to get to know the folks in town. Maybe she can figure out who might have wanted to hurt her aunt.
There are several odd things going on around town. The town treasurer seems to go on more expensive vacations and buy expensive “toys” than his business should be able to support. The guy doing odd jobs around town seems menacing. And Callie’s business “neighbor” is openly hostile and only seems interested in buying out the music box shop and being horrible. Callie has her hands full trying to determine what really happened to Aunt Mel.
Review
This is the first book in the new Keepsake Cove mystery series. The setting is fantastic. The little collectible stores are quaint and quirky. It makes for lots of interesting characters for the town and reasons for lots of people to come through as visitors for future stories.
I loved the main characters. Callie is great and the friends she made in this first book created a solid supporting cast. Her quirky part timer with “psychic” gifts and Tarot readings made for some interesting impacts on the plot. The characters were introduced at a comfortable pace so the reader could keep track of everyone. This is a town and a group of people I’d love to spend more time with.
The mystery was solid. I was able to figure out the solution before the end. I enjoyed working through the clues and possible suspects. While I enjoy mysteries with a little magic or fantasy thrown in, I am not a fan of Tarot and other things that could be considered “occultish.” So that might keep me from reading more in the series in the future. I would have enjoyed the book just as much without that piece in the story.
Thanks to the folks at Netgalley and Midnight Ink for an electronic review copy of this book offered in exchange for an honest review.