This Flashback Friday needs a bit of a clarification.
The author first released this book back in 2015,
but it was released it with a new cover in March 2017 preceding the release of Written in Stone, the 3rd book in the series. I added the book to my wish list last year when the 2nd book in the series tour with Great Escapes.
A Stone’s Throw
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – New York
Solstice Publishing (March 8, 2017)
Paperback: 322 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1625265463
Kindle ASIN: B06XGNXQCS
Widowed librarian Alicia Fairmont needs answers…
After her husband is killed in a hit and run accident, Alicia travels upstate to his hometown of Cobble Cove, New York, hoping to locate his estranged family and shed light on his mysterious past. Anticipating staying only a weekend, her visit is extended when she accepts a job at the town’s library.
Secrets stretch decades into the past…
Assisted by handsome newspaper publisher and aspiring novelist, John McKinney, Alicia discovers a connection between her absent in-laws and a secret John’s father has kept for over sixty years. But her investigation is interrupted when she receives word her house has burned and arson is suspected, sending her rushing back to Long Island, accompanied by John.
Back in Cobble Cove, cryptic clues are uncovered…
When Alicia returns, she finds a strange diary, confiscated letters, and a digital audio device containing a recording made the day her husband was killed. Anonymous notes warn Alicia to leave town, but she can’t turn her back on the mystery—or her attraction to John. As the pieces begin to fall into place, evidence points to John’s involvement in her husband’s accident. The past and present threaten to collide, and Alicia confronts her fears…
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Alicia Fairmont is struggling to move on after her husband’s death. She didn’t know much about his family and they didn’t show up for the funeral. She thinks that if she connects with them it will bring her the peace she needs to get on with her life. She knows he considered Cobble Cove his home she she hopes to find some answers there.
Soon after arriving she meets John McKinney, publisher of the local newspaper and he agrees to help her find out her husband’s mother and his sister. She also meets his father and the library director. The director hears that Alicia is a librarian and quickly offers her a job. While considering the offer she receives a call from home that her home has been burned to the ground. John accompanies her back to deal with all the aftermath. But her mind is still back in Cobble Cove. She wraps up what she can and returns back there to try to get the answers she needs.
Instead of a simple meeting of her in-laws she uncovers secrets, clues and evidence that turn the whole thing into quite a mystery. Many things are not what they seem and everything she learns takes her in a new direction until the last clue puts everything in order.
This is a complex mystery that is very well written. I had a couple of issues about how quickly certain events take place but as I delved further into the story those became minor glitches.
Cobble Cove is an unusual town and not typical for a cozy mystery. It felt very dark to me at times. The town is full of cottages with whimsical street names but there was just a pallor over the town. People are hiding something from Alicia and the story was getting a more suspenseful feel, but never truly veered into the thriller genre.
I liked Alicia but my verdict on John was out until almost the very end of the story. In fact I wasn’t trusting of anyone in Cobble Cove until the final pages. There is a wide variety in the personalities of all the characters, the bubbly townspeople that are on every committee, the shut-ins who have books from the library delivered to them, the detective that was downright rude, Dora,who runs the only place to stay in town, and of course John, his father and Sheila, the director of the library.
De Louise is an excellent storyteller. Her descriptions of time and place took me right into the pages. She includes many twists and turns to keep us as readers motivated to keep those pages turning. Everything wraps up nicely by the end of the story. If I didn’t know this was the first book in the series I would have thought it was a stand alone novel.
This story was different and so much more than I expected when I started reading. It is a very entertaining mystery coupled with a unlikely romance. I will definitely be checking out the next two installments.
About The Author
Debbie De Louise is an award-winning author and a reference librarian at a public library on Long Island. She is a member of Sisters-in-Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Cat Writer’s Association. She has a BA in English and an MLS in Library Science from Long Island University. Her published novels include Cloudy Rainbow, A Stone’s Throw
Author Links:
Amazon Author Page Website/Blog/Newsletter Sign-Up
Between A Rock and a Hard Place
Publisher: Solstice Publishing (October 12, 2016)
Paperback: 316 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1625264534
E-Book ASIN: B01M59PPBY
Synopsis – Book 2
Librarian Alicia McKinney has put the past behind her…
Two years ago, Alicia discovered both a terrible truth and lasting love with John McKinney in the small town of Cobble Cove, New York. Now a busy mother of twin babies and co-author of a mystery series, Alicia couldn’t be happier.
Alicia’s contentment and safety are challenged…
Walking home alone from the library, Alicia senses someone following her, and on more than one occasion, she believes she is being watched. Does she have a stalker? When the local gift shop is burglarized, the troubling event causes unrest among Alicia and the residents of the quiet town.
John and Alicia receive an offer they can’t refuse…When John’s sister offers to babysit while she and John take a much-needed vacation in New York City, Alicia is reluctant to leave her children because of the disturbances in Cobble Cove. John assures her the town is safe in the hands of Sheriff-elect Ramsay. Although Alicia’s experience with and dislike of the former Long Island detective don’t alleviate her concern, she and John take their trip.
Alicia faces her worst nightmare…
The McKinneys’ vacation is cut short when they learn their babies have been kidnapped and John’s sister shot. Alicia and John’s situation puts them between a rock and a hard place when the main suspect is found dead before the ransom is paid. In order to save their children, the McKinneys race against the clock to solve a mystery more puzzling than those found in their own books. Can they do it before time runs out?
Written in Stone
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Solstice Publishing (April 3, 2017)
Print Length: 215 pages
ASIN: B06Y1JTHJ8
Alicia McKinney is confused . . . .
Was the strange email her husband received from the fictional detective in their mystery series a threat? Did the killer mistake the woman shot in the library for Alicia or the victim’s twin sister?
Cat vs. Dog . . .
After Sneaky goes missing from the library, will he turn up before a young girl becomes ill with worry over his disappearance? And will he return in time to outsmart Fido by being first to find the perpetrator’s smoking gun?
Alicia is worried . . .
While waiting for the killer’s next move, Alicia has other concerns. An old flame of John’s is in town and her friend, Gilly, has adopted the role of Miss Marple to aid her sheriff boyfriend in his investigation.
When all clues point to one of her co-workers, Alicia joins Gilly in searching for the answers to the mystery.
Will they survive . . . .
or is their ending written in stone?
Tour Participants
May 5 – My Journey Back – SPOTLIGHT
May 5 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
May 6 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST
May 6 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – REVIEW
May 7 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
May 8 – Dee-Scoveries – SPOTLIGHT
May 8 – Mochas, Mysteries and Meows – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
May 9 – Cozy Up With Kathy – SPOTLIGHT
May 10 – Books,Dreams,Life – SPOTLIGHT
May 11 – Valerie’s Musings – REVIEW
May 12 – deal sharing aunt – INTERVIEW
May 13 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Thanks so much for hosting me, Lori, and for the great review. I’m glad you enjoyed the first book of the series.
I love the sound of this story. I’d love to read it.
Sounds like a great series. Would enjoy reading.
And she (kind of) thought she knew her husband.