Cape Willington's annual Winter Moose Fest is in full swing when the sightings of a mysterious white moose-and rumors of a dead body found in the woods-send Candy scrambling to separate fact from fiction before she finds herself in the bullseye of a ruthless killer...

Review

Making ends meet in Cape Willingham, Maine takes a lot of hard work. That doesn’t bother Candy Holliday who lives with her dad “Doc” on their blueberry farm and makes pies for a local diner. Candy is preparing to cover the town’s annual Winter Moose Fest as part of her other job as a reporter when Solomon Hatch, the town hermit, stumbles onto her property claiming to have discovered a dead body in the woods. The police dismiss Solomon’s claim when they can’t find the body, but Candy won’t rest until she finds out the truth about the body and if it has anything to do with a beautiful white moose that has been appearing in town, or the strange events that have been going on for months.

The book gets off to a great start. It begins with one of Candy’s articles, and that gives the reader a flavor of the town and its residents. The book has a great location and an appealing main character. Candy is hard-working, values her family, and is a kind person. I love that Candy is fair-minded enough to admire the writing talent of her nemesis Wanda Boyle who runs a competing news website and blog. Having the annual Moose Fest as a focus for the book is a great idea and I loved learning about ice sculpting along with Candy as she interviews some of the artists for her coverage of the event. I was at first reminded of Leslie Meier’s Lucy Stone series and looked forward to discovering what would happen next. However, I quickly became confused about the plot and the backstory of the characters and didn’t know who or what I should be rooting for.

There are many different continuing series out there for mystery lovers, and many books that are part of a series are best if you’ve read the previous books. You enjoy a “shared history” with the main characters and have experienced the events they have and can see how they have grown and changed. However, most books that are part of a series will give new readers enough information so each book in the series can stand alone. Unfortunately, that is not the case for Town on a Wild Moose Chase. While it’s only the third book in this series, Candy constantly makes references to things that occurred in previous books that are directly related to the current mystery, as well as her relationship with her boyfriend and boss Ben. Things are hinted at through vague descriptions, but not enough information is shared to shed light on things going on now in the story. Perhaps the author didn’t want to give away the solution to mysteries in prior books, but I was left confused and frustrated though much of the book. That being said, I was still able to figure out one of the suspects very early on, so it was lacking in suspense.

Part of the mystery is wrapped up at the end, but the books ends with a cliffhanger and the reader is left with many unanswered questions. There is an epilogue, but instead of providing closure, it brings up more questions. Those who have read the prior books in the series are likely to enjoy catching up with the interesting characters and the continuation of past events in their lives, but as a new reader, I found myself more confused than entertained.

Reviewed by Christine K.

READERS COMMENTS