About the Book: Samantha “Ivy” Towers returns to Winter Break, Kansas, where she spent her summers as a child, to make funeral arrangements for her Aunt Bitty. While there, she begins to suspect her aunt’s death, which resulted from a fall in her bookshop, wasn’t an accident after all. Childhood friend, Amos Parker, now sheriff of Winter Break, seems anxious to get Ivy out of town. A missing book, a message scrawled by an unknown person, and an extra coffee cup leaves Ivy with more questions than answers.

My Review: I had just finished The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, and while I loved it, I was ready for a bit lighter fare. I love a good cozy mystery and have enjoyed the books I’ve read so far in the new Heartsong Presents Mysteries collection.

This book was no exception! Nancy Mehl has created a wonderful and fun town in Winter Break and a very likeable character in Ivy Towers. (what a great name, huh?) What I appreciated so much about this book is that it was both zany and fun (I laughed out loud a few times!) and also there’s some depth as Ivy realizes her Aunt Bitty’s life was fully lived even if it didn’t look like the typical picture of success. In fact, I really thought the contrast of Ivy’s parents who went to China (and she always knew she was the mistake that kept them from going earlier) and her aunt who loved everyone God brought in her path was brilliant and subtle while also extremely effective in allowing Ivy to make some decisions about her own future.

Oh and the mystery was fun and certainly kept me guessing right up to the last minute. And you know I loved the setting of the bookstore!

I greatly enjoyed this book and look forward to the next three in the series. Nancy Mehl is a new writer to me, but I love her style! If you are interested in reading this book, it is available through the Heartsong Presents Mysteries club or all four mysteries will be available in an omnibus version later this year in stores.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 12:00 am

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