It is summer and that means Reading Specialist, Lizzie Turner should be taking it easy. Not this summer. As Lizzie works on upcoming lesson plans, Molly Matthews telephones with the exciting news that her childhood friend has moved back to Ashton Corners and needs help to promote her book she has written.Teensy Coldicutt is bigger than life! Her personality, clothing sense, and laugh fills the room. Teensy has written a romantic suspense novel and it has been published by a local vanity press. Molly agrees to purchase one hundred and fifty of the novels and then have a book launch and book signings all to be done by asking Lizzie to help. Lizzie, it seems, can't say 'no.' The night that the books are delivered, there is a break-in at Molly's home. As Molly heads for the hospital, all that is missing from her home is the cartons of books. Why? Then there is a second crime, the death of Teensy's publisher. What is it with that book?Finally a second man is found murdered in retired police chief Bob Miller's backyard. What is going on with the Aston Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straws Society? Lizzie takes it upon herself to try and find the culprit, especially when the F.B.I. gets involved. Someone seems to be setting up Bob but can the solution be found before it is too late. This was a nice cozy murder mystery. The ending just might surprise you. It did me. This was book three in the Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery series. It was okay. I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way, I mean it wasn't bad. It was a light and pleasant read but I just didn't get into it. The mystery was okay, in that it wasn't the best or most fascinating nor was it the worst and easily solved. I mean I figured out part of it but I was also surprised by other aspects of it. I think maybe it was that something in the series is just getting a little stale for me. I'm also wondering if every member of the book club is going to be a murder suspect throughout the series. Of course, it could simply be that I wasn't in the mood for reading this. I love Molly (she's probably my favorite of the bunch) and even Bob but I don't feel like the other characters are really going anywhere. I mean there are some relationship 'changes' going on with some characters, but I guess I don't feel like they're developing (okay this is mostly Lizzie). It's just she hears what people say but she doesn't even consider taking to heart some very sound advice and continually puts herself into situations (some dangerous, some that are just idiotic). Honestly if the book were real life she probably would've been arrested for popping up so much (and rather inconveniently at times) in an investigation. I know this is a cozy but there were times I just wanted to smack my head against something. The book works best when the characters are together and we can see their interactions - because this is a group of people that genuinely care for each other. My last complaint is more personal (again), what is with the "For sure" that I keep seeing in the dialogue. I don't know why this particularly jolted me from the story when I read the book - perhaps because I don't recall it in the previous books and it feels like some of the characters speech suddenly took a turn. Maybe just because I keep hearing the words spoken like slang fosho (I have no idea if I spelt that correctly, but I think some of you will know what I mean). It was an okay read for me, good for killing time, I just couldn't really get into it like I usually would. 2.5 Stars.
What do You think about Cover Story (2013)?
Great cozy series. Love the characters. Can't wait till the next one comes out.
—sonyari22
Good mystery, likeable characters and never saw the bad guy coming.
—Tanya
Good book to read. I suspected the big boss from the beginning.
—sammi
I liked it. It's another solid entry in this series.
—donna
