Charli Rae Warren is back home in Hazel Rock, Texas, spending her time reading, collecting, and selling books—at least, the ones that don’t get eaten first by her father’s pet armadillo. Running the family bookstore is a demanding job, but solving murders on the side can be flat out dangerous . . .The Book Barn is more than just a shop, it’s a part of the community—and Charli is keeping busy with … keeping busy with a fundraising auction and the big rodeo event that’s come to town. That includes dealing with the Texas-sized egos of some celebrity cowboys, including Dalton Hibbs, a blond, blue-eyed bull rider who gets overly rowdy one night with the local hairdresser . . . and soon afterward, disappears into thin air.
Dalton’s brother also vanished seven years ago—and Charli is thrown about whether Dalton is a villain or a victim. After a close call with an assailant wielding a branding iron (that plays havoc with her hair), and some strange vandalism on her property, she’s going to have to team up with the sheriff to untangle this mystery, before she gets gored . . .
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The second book in the Book Barn Series is even better than the first! Texas rodeo riders, a great mystery, and the on going angst in Charli’s relationships with the Mayor, the Sheriff, and her daddy make this one another page turner.
A Reference to Murder by Kym Roberts was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. After all, there is a book store, Charli, Scarlet, Mateo, Princess and cowboys to entertain the reader.
Scarlet may have just found her HEA and I couldn’t be happier for her. But first Charli has to solve a mystery which is so twisted that I had to keep a notebook handy to write down the clues (or red herrings) as I was reading. I can always count on Ms. Roberts to write a story that has humor as well as a tightly woven plot that makes me keep turning the pages. Charli is a strong young woman who is quickly turning the Book Barn into a center for Hazel Rock’s creative residents. Charli and Scarlet are best friends who can’t seem to stay out of a mystery or trouble; and they are very “creative” during their investigations. With a fast paced plot, numerous suspects, and more than one mystery to be unraveled, this book will keep a reader on the edge of their seats and turning the pages until the end.
I loved the first book so much that I was afraid this one would be as outstanding but it was!!! Loved it. Kym Roberts brings something special to the cozy or light mystery genre and that is what I want in a book. Her characters a great and are people that I would admire or even want to know. Life isn’t always easy but neither is everything shadow and gloom. The most of the characters are intelligent and strong although we know that Charli, also known as Princess, wasn’t always strong. I loved that she has been willing to open to the people of the town as she realized that her view had been narrowed by the self-focus of youth. Now we see a strong young woman standing for a friend, committing to her business and community, and willing to discovering new things about people and life.
The mystery was emotional and excellent and I really didn’t expect things to turn out has they did. I like that the relationship issue seems to be leaning one direction even though I suspect that it will take some time before we see a real development, but Charli is not waiting in the wings for either prince charming, good for her. I vote Mateo! In spite of the sadness and suspicion, the book was a blast!
Our other Princess, the pink armadillo is as cute as ever. Ms. Roberts is correcting in stating that humans can contract leprosy from armadillos, and that it does exist in the United States, but the implication that it is as bad as Ebola is no longer correct. A course of antibiotics can cure leprosy long before it becomes the horror that most of us associate with it.
In this sophomore entry in the Book Barn Mystery series, author Kym Roberts give us another well plotted, page turner. She continues to develop the lead character of Charlie, also nicknamed Princess, a bi-racial heroine who has returned to her Texas hometown many years after after being driven away by baseless rumors concerning her sexual availability. There was only one false note in the writing that gave me pause. At one point in the story, Charlie reflects on the popularity of guns in her hometown. She attributes it, almost with pride, to Texans being historically outgunned and outmanned at the Alamo. While this may be the way history is taught in Texas, the latest issue of the NY Times Magazine, which will be used as an educational supplement in schools, points out that the plantation owners in the Mexican lands that would become Texas, were opposed to Mexico’s abolishment of slavery in its territory. Then Senator Abraham Lincoln went on record as opposed to the Mexican American War. As the character of Charlie is presented as an intellectually curious, book loving and well read former teacher, it is not realistic to make her unaware of this side of history, especially as it has bearing on her own bi-racial heritage. Charlie’s awareness of this would have been a more nuanced and consistent depiction of the character.