[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Delta Douglas was living the dream. Thanks to an early inheritance from her grandmother, Delta has been able to quit her job in Wyoming and move to Montana. There she is going into business with her friend, Hazel, running a specialty stationery/paper products shop. The store, Wanted, is housed in an old sheriff’s office where Hazel had taken advantage of interest in the Old West. She used the cells and the sheriff’s desk as part of her displays. And working at the shop will give Delta the opportunity to pursue her own stationery designs.
One of Delta’s first events with Wanted is a craft night at a local hotel. Glitter Galore will be held in the board room while the Taylor family, who owns the hotel, hosts their annual Gold Miner’s party in another section of the building. Delta picks up some tension between members of the Taylor family. And she overhears an argument between some party guests. But none of that prepares her for murder before the night is through.
Review
A great mystery with a fun theme!
I enjoyed this kick off to a new series. The characters were good. I enjoyed Delta and her team up with former cop, Jonas, and the dog Spud. The local LEO was of the incompetent and paranoid variety you get sometimes in a cozy. I’m sure in future books he’ll grow even more antagonistic. He’s that type.
The mystery was good. There were a lot of suspects and motives for the murder. I was not able to figure out the culprit before the end. The only gap for me is that the culprit never addressed the sleuthing and “back off” messages in the final confession. It felt like an glaring omission in the show down. If the culprit was that bothered, I’m not convinced the person would have fallen for the set up at the end.
I’ll be keeping with this series in the future. The setting was a lot of fun, and that is what usually sets cozy mystery series apart from one another. I hope we get even more scenes with the Paper Posse in future stories. This was a fun introduction to these characters!