Vinyl Resting Place: The Record Shop Mysteries by Olivia Blacke #Review @OliviaBlackeAuthor @OliviaBlacke @stmartinspress

Vinyl Resting Place: The Record Shop Mysteries
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Texas
St. Martin’s Paperbacks (December 27, 2022)
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250860083
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250860088
Kindle ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09XL7B368

When Juni Jessup and her sisters Tansy and Maggie put all their beans in one basket to open Sip & Spin Records, a record-slash-coffee shop in Cedar River, Texas, they knew there could be some scratches on the track, but no one was expecting to find a body deader than disco in the supply closet.

Family is everything to the Jessups, so when their uncle is arrested by Juni’s heartbreaking ex on suspicion of murder, the sisters don’t skip a beat putting Sip & Spin up for bail collateral. But their tune changes abruptly when Uncle Calvin disappears, leaving them in a grind. With their uncle’s freedom and the future of their small business on the line, it’s up to Juni and her sisters to get in the groove and figure out whodunit before the killer’s trail—and the coffee—goes cold.

Music and mocha seem like a blend that should be “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” but caught up in a murder investigation with her family and their life savings on the line, Juni wonders if she might be on the “Highway to Hell” instead.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Family is everything to Juni Jessup and her sisters Maggie and Tansy and they are so excited to reopen the family record store now that vinyl records are in demand again. They have now added coffee to the mix and Sip & Spin Records’ grand opening is set to be a huge event.

With a food truck out front and records spinning inside it feels like the whole town turned out. The sisters are ready to call the opening a great success until they find a dead body in the supply closet. When their Uncle Calvin is arrested by non-other than Juni’s ex, Beau Russell the girls almost spin out but decide to put their new business up as collateral to get him out on bail with plans to prove his innocence as quickly as possible. But then Calvin disappears without a trace. His truck is still in the driveway. He clearly wasn’t at home. And Juni’s detective ex keeps showing up like a bad penny in hopes she will lead him to her uncle.

Before the coffee stops brewing and the records stop spinning Juni knows she needs to find the real killer and her uncle all while not becoming the killer’s next victim.

I like the Jessup Family and I think it is so cool that they get to reopen a record shop in the exact same place where their grandparents had it in vinyl’s original heyday.

Each member of the family has their own strengths and they came together to get their new venture off to a great success. Juni, Maggie, and Tansy are the ones who are running the shop day to day with their Mom and Uncle Calvin being not-so-silent partners. Tansy knows so much about music and is great at helping customers find what they want. She also had the idea to add the coffee corner. Maggie is “fastidious” and strives to keep everything in the store clean and in its proper place. Juni, a former IT tech, focused on organizing the shop and advertising the grand opening. And of course, now sleuthing out a killer. We also meet Juni’s ex, Detective Beau Russell, and her BFF Teddy Garza, a postal worker. There is the start of a romantic triangle here and usually, I don’t mind those, but Beau was a real jerk and Teddy is such a nice guy. At the moment for me, it is no contest. All the characters are realistic with a lot of room for growth. I want to get to know them all better.

The mystery was really interesting especially when everyone assumed Juni knew who the victim was when she was found when in fact she didn’t and the person turned out to be someone she knew in her past but didn’t recognize all grown up. That gave her added motivation to get justice for the deceased. The author gave us plenty of suspects and threw in some really nice twists and turns, the last one was pretty epic because my focus was on another character. I really enjoyed the showdown as the clues literally fell into place for Juni in real time with a feline assist.

Ms. Blacke’s cozy theme of a record store/coffee shop feels new and fresh and she has set the series near Austin, Texas. “The live music capital of the world.” and “Known as the state’s weird city, Austin is a haven for artists and hippies. It’s famous for its tacos, lakes, and cool festivals.” Sounds like a perfect place for a cozy mystery series to take place.

Vinyl Resting Place, the first Record Shop Mystery, was a very entertaining read. I loved all the music references and the unique brews featured. The characters were engaging and the mystery was compelling. The author’s use of humor hit all the right notes but I am not sold on the romantic triangle yet.

The next book in the series is already out. I have A Fatal Groove on my Kindle’s To-Be-Read shelf and plan to be reading and reviewing it soon.

Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent

About the Author

Also by this Author

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.”