Once Upon a Crime by Mona Marple
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
*~~*ARC kindly provided by the author to me in exchange for an honest review *~~*
The first book in the Waterfell Tweed Cozy Mystery series!
Sandy Shaw finds herself torn away from her beloved bookshop and cafe when village eccentric Reginald Halfman is found murdered, just hours after he announced his plans to open a competing bookshop right across the village square. As the city police arrive and make it clear Sandy is under suspicion, she is forced to investigate the murder herself. Can she solve the case before it’s too late?
Once Upon a Crime is a novella of around 35,000 words. Light and cozy, the book introduces our female amateur sleuth, the village of Waterfell Tweed, and a whole host of quirky characters! Each book in this series can be read as a standalone (but is better enjoyed if read in order), and is free from swearing, sex, violence and cliffhangers.
A cozy mystery indeed and a nice start of a series with a heroine I liked. Sandy is the owner of a bookshop including a café, or is it a café including a bookshop? This sweet combination is a real crowd puller and she is happy with her daily life.
This life is stirred up when Reginald is found dead & the police has her under suspicion.
The book is full of events, the crime case isn’t easy in my opinion because at the end you have a lot of people under suspicion but they are all wrong. I liked how energetic Sandy was, how she tries to find the murder although she is just an ordenary shop owner.
Actually the book was although short full of information and a lot of people you have to remember. Sometimes I had to pause and collect myself because I was a tiny bit overwhelmed by the many events and new people.
All in all the crime case was solid though sometimes I felt it a bit dull, I wasn’t sure if some parts couldn’t have been shorter. Still the book was a good entertainment for an afternoon & I’m curious what’s on Sandy’s plate the next time. 🙂 I’m also curious if we see the detective again but I doubt it and since I can’t really get a measure of him I’m not sure if I want a reunion with him and Sandy, but we’ll see.
The subplot with Sandy’s best friend Cass is pretty promising so I can’t wait to see if it will continue in the next book. It was a part in the book which made the book really interesting, though I thought for a moment it had a different direction. 😉 It took me by suprise that’s for sure. 🙂
A pleasant read, good solid crime case & entertaining characters. I’m curious to get more information about them. 4 out of 5 stars for this.
Mikku-chan 