Tag: Sourcebooks Landmark

Die Me a River (Welcome Back to Scumble River)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Illinois
Sourcebooks Landmark (September 4, 2018)
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
ISBN-10: 1492648353
ISBN-13: 978-1492648352
Kindle ASIN: B07CP798ZG

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Their twins have been born and their house is being rebuilt after the tornado, Skye, Wally, and the babies are leaving in a fabulous RV. Life is good. Then the new parents are meeting with the priest to go over details for the babies’ christening when a loud explosion rocks them and the building. They run outside to see that the explosion occurred at the bowling alley. The bowling alley where Skye’s former boyfriend’s mother lives. Police chief Wally and Skye take in the scene and after the firemen rescue those that were trapped in the building they are both rocked again by one of the people coming out of the building. But there was someone that didn’t make it out. A body is found in the debris.

Was the bowling alley targeted because of the flak about the gambling machines? Or is there some other reason a bomb was placed in the building? Wally is right in the thick of the investigation but Skye is doing some investigating of her own. She is also handling some things at school for the intern filling in for her while she is on maternity leave. And then there are the twins, the christening, the baby shower where her mother has invited over 150 people, and decisions that need to be made regarding their new home. To say Skye and Wally have a lot on their plate in an understatement of epic proportions.

Whether this is your first book in this series you have picked up or if you are a long time fan you are in for a wonderful treat!

Ms. Swanson has taken Syke through thick and thin over the now 23 Scumble River and Welcome Back to Scumble River series’. I was a little nervous about how these babies may slow her down, but we saw in this story that that is not the case. Skye has really matured over the course of the series. She and Wally make a great team both as parents and investigators. With all their friends and extended family, there is never a dull moment in Scumble River.

This story was incredibly easy to escape into. The characters are likable, believable, and engaging. The dialogue is spot on too. I was surprised that the new babies remain unnamed until the christening when the names are revealed.  There is no way my family or my husband’s family would have let us get away with that. But it did make the moment very special.

Now the mystery starts out with several potential suspects, the victim was not an easy person to like and they were doing anything to advance their career on the backs of others. With a little digging, the list of suspects was pared down quickly. The author throws several red herrings along the path to distract us too. Everything comes to a surprising end in totally the wrong place. Yes, I was on edge until it all played out.

Caution – there are a few curse words in the story, but the new parents are working on that 🙂

Superb characters in some crazy situations come together in the well-written mystery.  I would have finished the whole thing all in one evening if only my eyeballs would have cooperated.

This was a fun read!