The Coffee Club Mysteries
Six authors contribute six cozy mysteries to this anthology. Murders and robberies seem to define the small town of Oak Grove, KS. The collection of stories has differing levels of quality - though the further this reader got into the book, the better the stories became - the last two stories were, to this reader, the best of the lot. The stories consist of 13-15 chapters each of about the same length:
Coffee, Tea, or Murder by Cynthia Hickey The Honey Hive Mystery by Dana Mentink Chili Con Carne Murder by Candice Prentice Nuts for Coffee by Darlene Franklin In Hot Water by Elizabeth Ludwig Nutty as a Fruitcake by Janice Thompson
The stories take place over a year with the members of a local book club that meet weekly on Tuesday evenings at the The Coffee Perk serving as the amateur sleuths. Along with the help of a few neighborhood friends, a newly arrived writer, and a weirdly suspicious sheriff (could he have been the killer?), crimes are solved and things are put right.
Each of the stories demonstrate a bit of faith, though, as I said earlier, the quality varies from story to story. Though the main protagonist of each story varies, the same characters continue to define the book club and the same community shops define the nature of the town. The stories tie loosely together much like a scripted TV show is tied together week by week - the stories do not rely on each other and can be read separately, they share characters and settings.
If a reader enjoys cozy mysteries, these stories and the book would be easily enjoyed over the course of a long weekend.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.
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