Dead Men Need No Reservations (A Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
7th in Series
Setting – California
Satori (May 17, 2023)
Paperback : 328 pages
ISBN-10 : 0996891498
ISBN-13 : 978-0996891493
Kindle ASIN : B0C15SSV21
A party of six guests checks into the Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast. Only five check out.
Seaside Cove B&B owner Rick Atwood is asked to help solve the murder of the group’s sixth member, a man known to his so-called friends as Snappy Welles. Rick quickly discovers that Snappy’s friends hated him. And, they have secrets.
While Rick pursues the official investigation with Chief of Police Adam Cunningham, Rick’s daughter Alex launches a shadow investigation in hopes of finding the killer first. But as the secrets and lies unravel, Rick is forced to choose between bringing a killer to justice and saving his family.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Operation Baby Brother is almost complete and it’s been a few months since Seaside Cove B&B owner Rick Atwood has been asked to assist his friend, Chief of Police Adam Cunningham with a case. Then shortly after the “Band of Six” check into the B&B one of them is dead and the other five are suspects. Of course, Rick’s 13-year-old daughter Alex wants to help solve the murder but after too many close calls, especially the one in the previous book, Rick and Adam decide to limit her participation to computer research which doesn’t make her happy.
When clues start to fall into place and secrets are revealed and lies fall apart Rick and Adam set out to catch the killer. Adam tries his best to keep his friend safe but even he may not be able to stop what happens in the dark of night.
Rick, Marquetta, and Alex are getting ready for a big change as their family will soon grow to four. Mr. Ambrose has created a family everyone can love. He lets the narration of the story switch between Rick and Alex to give readers different points of view. I love knowing what Alex is thinking and this time we get to know her feelings about a baby brother and how her family is going to change. She sure does catch the little things adults seem to miss and she has a way of getting people to open up to her.
The victim, Snappy Welles, has arrived at the B&B with five friends to check out some local history. He really wasn’t a nice person, not to his “friends” or anyone else he met in Seaside Cove. I really enjoyed the way the mystery was plotted out and the part Alex played in it. I had pinpointed the right guilty party way before the characters but had to wait for the motive to be spelled out. The ending was very tense, exciting, and surprising.
I really enjoyed the history aspect of the story. The field trip Alex and her friends went on reminded me of chaperoning school trips with my own kids. Things never change. There is always that one student that tries to make trouble.
Terry Ambrose is a splendid storyteller. He blends the happenings in the characters’ daily lives with a top-notch mystery. I have enjoyed every book in this series and think they would be a great introduction to cozy mysteries for a young adult. I plan to share them with my granddaughter someday soon.
Dead Men Need No Reservations is a wonderful addition to this series. The ending was unexpected but it looks like Alex has a new project along with the fact that her little brother is going to be born very soon. I am excited for this series to continue. You never know what is going to happen next in Seaside Cove.
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About the Author
Terry Ambrose started out skip-tracing and collecting money from deadbeats and quickly learned that liars come from all walks of life. He never actually stole a car but sometimes hired big guys with tow trucks and a penchant for working in the dark to “help” when negotiations failed.
A resident of Southern California, he loves spending time in Hawaii, especially on the Garden Island of Kauai, where he invents lies for others to read. His years of chasing deadbeats taught him many valuable life lessons such as—always keep your car in the garage.
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Will Return Soon!
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 for the wonderful review, Lori!