A Vintage Death
As the new owner of the House of Melody, a music box shop in Keepsake Cove, Callie Reed is eager to get more involved in her community. She volunteers to plan the fall street decorations and welcome a visiting author who’s come for a special book signing to kick off the fall festivities. But the celebratory mood is cut short when the local B&B owner is found dead, killed with a pair of vintage scissors.
Suspicion is cast on the victim’s estranged wife, Dorothy, who owns the vintage sewing shop. Callie is sure Dorothy is innocent, and the visiting author, Lyssa Hammond, agrees. Together, they begin an investigation, only to discover that many people in Keepsake Cove have secrets. Secrets that are worth killing to keep.
Series: A Keepsake Cove Mystery – Book 2
Author: Mary Ellen Hughes
Genre: Cozy Mystery/Business/Paranormal
Publisher: Midnight Ink Books
Rating: 
A Vintage Death is a wonderful book and a great addition to the Keepsake Cove Mystery series. Ms. Hughes is a highly entertaining writer of cozies with a creative streak that is top-notch. Her writing is smooth, well-plotted, with characters that come to life within the cover of her books. With Midnight Ink closing its doors next year, it is hoped that this series will be picked up by another publisher and allowed to continue.
Callie Reed took over her aunt’s music box shop, House of Melody, after her aunt was murdered. It may not have been her first choice for her future, but she is making the best of it and finding that she loves the town and the business. Callie is a hardworking, down-to-earth type of person who finds it odd when she keeps coming across murder victims. Common sense would tell her to stay out of it, but her heart has other ideas. She can’t help herself getting involved with an investigation when one of her friends is the prime suspect.
Characters in this series are growing in many ways; they are maturing, becoming more defined, and increasingly important. There is no doubt that the reader will love the residents of Keepsake Cove. It’s very easy to envision the town and the shopkeepers through Ms. Hughes’ words; it’s also easy to want to get to know them more and more. A new character that may be recurring pulls readers in and becomes the character they will count on to get Callie involved even when she doesn’t want to be. This is one of the best cozies out there.
The killer is hiding in plain sight. Many readers will not know who it is until the unveiling, which the killer manages to do all on their own with no help from Callie. The twist and turns will keep readers turning the page and going through the same mental questioning that Callie finds herself doing.
This is the second book in this series, and A Vintage Death provides everything a reader wants in a cozy mystery. There is no foul language, no sexual activity. It is simply a fun, interesting story right up to the last word. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good who-done-it and wants to spend a couple of hours losing themselves in another place.
About the Author
Mary Ellen took a circuitous route to mystery writing, but the constant of it all was her love of books. Growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she studied piano along with all the more usual subjects, and she was aware of a certain ease and pleasure in writing. But practicalities of earning a living led her into the sciences. She earned a degree in Medical Technology at Alverno College, and worked in hospital laboratories, including clinical chemistry at the National Institutes of Health, but eventually found her way to what she enjoyed most: writing mysteries.
As a break from all the time spent at the computer, doubles tennis is Mary Ellen’s favorite activity, followed by travel, and, you guessed it, reading.
Contact Mary Ellen: http://www.maryellenhughes.com/
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