Cover Story
Erika Chase

Genre:
Mystery
Rating:

Murder is nothing novel for the Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straws Society—but this time the police want to throw the book at one of their own…

It’s time to celebrate when club member Molly Mathews’s childhood friend, Teensy Coldicutt, moves back to town—complete with a published book. But as the club plans Teensy’s book launch, Molly is attacked and Teensy’s books are stolen. Who would be so desperate for 150 copies of a sexy novel written by an elderly widow? Then Ashton Corners is hit with another shock when Teensy’s publisher turns up dead—and fellow club member and former police chief Bob Miller is taken into custody.

Convinced that Teensy’s missing books hold the key to the murder, Lizzie Turner and her band of readers are determined to hunt them down. But the plot thickens when their search leads them straight into a counterfeiting ring. Now they must unravel this surprise twist before the killer gets the chance to write someone else off…

Review

Lizzie Turner is pleased to see fellow book club member Molly Mathews so happy. Molly is excited her old school friend Teensy Coldicutt has moved back to Ashton Corners, Alabama. Even more exciting, Teensy has published a historical mystery that the book club not only adds to their fall reading list, but agrees to help Teensy promote. Lizzie, Molly, and the rest of the book club work hard to plan several book launch events to help Teensy sell copies of her book, which she compares to “Gone With the Wind.” Some of Lizzie and Molly’s plans are dashed when boxes of Teensy’s books are stolen and a murder hits close to home. When one of their own becomes a suspect in the murder of Teensy’s publisher, members of the book club put down the mysteries they’re reading and start investigating this real murder.  Could the budding author Teensy know more about this crime than she is leading everyone to believe? Lizzie is determined to get to the truth behind the murder before the wrong person is found guilty and before anyone else gets hurt.

Cover Story is the third book in the Ashton Corners Book Club series. The book is full of fun characters and the mystery will keep you guessing as to who the murderer is. The second chapter of the book does a good job of introducing all the book club members to new readers, so it’s not necessary to have read the previous books to enjoy the newest installment.  That being said, although I loved the first two books in this series, I’m a little disappointed in this follow-up book.  Lizzie seems to constantly put herself in danger throughout this book. She breaks promise after promise to her police chief boyfriend Mark Dreyfus to stay out of the investigation. This repetition grew tedious by the end of the book. However, Lizzie seems to find out more about the case than the police and the FBI combined. If she’s that good, then instead of shutting her out, maybe Mark should work more closely with Lizzie, taking advantage of her skills and keeping her safe.

The biggest disappointment in Cover Story is the lack of discussion about books. A few books are mentioned as part of the story, but the book club members don’t actually meet and talk about books the way they did in the prior installments. That element is missing in “Cover Story” and takes away from the uniqueness and the fun of the series. Luckily, the author’s genuine love for books still comes through. In addition to the books are mentioned within the book, each chapter includes meaningful quotes from a variety of mysteries.  Even though the book club members don’t discuss any books this time, the back of the book still includes the reading lists of mysteries that each member plans to read. It’s fun to see the variety of authors the Ashton Corners book club members plan to read and get new ideas for your own “want to read” list.

Another positive side to this book is the addition of Molly’s friend Teensy. She is an older version of Blanche Devereaux from television’s “The Golden Girls. “ Teensy may be a senior citizen, but she is still a Southern belle who enjoys being the center of attention, especially when those paying attention are men. I could see Teensy being the star of her own short story if not a full-length novel. Even when her motives are unclear, she adds some needed excitement to the book.

Although this has been my least favorite in this series due to a lack of book club meetings and a few sub-plots left up in the air at the end of the book,  I enjoyed the book overall. I have hopes that future Ashton Corners mysteries will have more of a balance between the book club discussing books as well as solving murders. Readers who enjoy Lorna Barrett’s Booktown Mysteries will like Cover Story.

Reviewed by Christine