Cozy Wednesday featuring Slay in Character (A Cat Latimer Mystery) by Lynn Cahoon #Review / #Giveaway @KensingtonBooks

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Who knew a little trip to a ghost town would lead to murder? The latest group of writers have arrived for their week-long retreat and a day out to Outlaw, Colorado, a tourist attraction dedicated to the Old West is the destination for a day trip. One of the writers, Jessi, a college student, works there along with her roommate for extra cash.

The next day the roommate is missing. She is later found dead in one of the rooms at the ghost town saloon. She went missing while working one of Jessi’s shifts – so was the killer after Jessi? or her friend? Cat tries to stay out of the investigation but her guests have other ideas and lie to her about where they are going. Twice she gets them out of hot water with police. She soon finds herself trying to solve the case to help Jessi, but also to keep her guests out of trouble. What she uncovers changes the course of the investigation and reveals a shady side of certain individuals.

Cat actually had a few months go well, no murders or police investigations, so this book takes place in the following summer after the last book. Shauna is still getting over Kevin’s death but is doing better, Cat and Seth’s relationship is moving along nicely. Uncle Pete and Shirley are handling a long distance relationship. Dante is still popping up unexpectedly. The writers for this retreat all belong to the same writing group and are historical romance writers with the exception of college student Jessi, but they quickly pull her into the group. If it wasn’t for that doggone murder things would be great.

One of the things I like about this series is that for each story we add a new group of characters to the core cast we have come to know so well over these four books. Ms. Cahoon does an excellent job at introducing this new group with great detail so readers can quickly grasp who they are, how they fit together, their similarities and differences. The character development of both the old characters and new is stellar. I appreciate the dialogues too, whether a quick quip or a full conversation. I also loved the writing drills, a little behind the scenes look at how writers get the word count in every day.

The mystery plot line was full of twists and I found it to be very interesting the way old cases that were similar were brought to light. Having Cat stay out of the investigation at first was a fun twist. Seeing her tell her guests how dangerous it is to get involved in police matters almost made me laugh out loud. This group of retreaters was absolutely delightful. I loved the way the wanted to snoop to help their new friend.

A subplot throughout the story was a project Seth was working on. A secret project. Almost every day he went out the back door and through the woods to the back of the property. He asked Cat and Shauna to not venture back there until he was finished. Both women were curious and had their own ideas what he what doing out there but stayed away until the big reveal. What a reveal it was, special, moving, heartwarming and perfect. I will not give any more details, it is a surprise you need to read about all on your own. Seth truly is a great friend and boyfriend.

Until this story, I would have said each of the books in this series could be read as stand-alone, but I believe I enjoyed this one so much because I had read the others first and got to experience the characters growth in quick succession. The things they dealt with, the way the handled the previous murders, the relationships that grew stronger. Because I was behind on this series I read the last three books in this series almost back-to-back. I remembered little details without having to tax my memory. The character’s progression was vivid in my mind. It is not often I am able to do that with a series.  I am usually a stickler about reading series in order so I was so happy I could catch up before jumping into this book. That being said don’t be afraid to grab this book and start reading. You can always go back and catch up too, just like I did, and be ready for Sconed to Death coming in May 2019.  😀