To Rick Atwood’s dismay, the police find a body on the beach near his Seaside Cove B&B. The dead woman held a pottery shard from an ancient rice bowl, which the cops believe is a clue to her murder. The chief suspect is Flynn O’Connor, a female archaeologist known for her hatred of treasure thieves. Trouble is, Rick’s daughter Alex sees Flynn as a role model and will not believe her friend is … her friend is a killer.
Alex pressures her dad as only a ten-year-old can to prove Flynn is innocent. The mayor is also making demands—for Rick to stay out of the investigation. With his daughter and the mayor at odds, Rick sees trouble brewing. He knows too well how much Alex loves sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. Especially when there’s murder involved.
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We are at a Florida B & B and I would love to go and stay there, although a murder seems to come along with your stay.
You’re going to love the father and daughter relationship here, so very sweet, and our Alex is quite precocious and adorable, her father is doing a great job!
As we try to get to whom the culprit maybe, I found myself changing my thoughts as to who committed the crime, and then again. I loved the help the police get from a ten-year-old!
If you like good clean romance, small town values, and a good mystery, this one will keep you page-turning!
I received this book through Great Escapes Book Tour, and was not required to give a positive review.
Seaside Cove is a quaint California coast
town. Rick Atwood is owner of the Seaside
Cove Bed & Breakfast. His ten year old
daughter, Alex lives there with him. She is a
very inquisitive, bold, imaginative girl with
good instincts which always seems to get her
into trouble. Alex is also very enterprising as
in having arranged a fund raiser to help pay
doctor bills for her friend’s sick mother.
The B&B seems to have an array of interesting
people staying there at this time: a famous
archaeologist, several treasure hunters plus a
newly married couple. All the characters both
the main ones and the secondary ones are well
described, in-depth characters sharing with the
reader their emotions, flaws, perceptions and
personalities that were shaped by dynamic life
experiences.
Murder, secrets, sunken treasures, spying, an
old artifact, a search on the beach, mystery and
family issues, all combine for a good cozy read.
The plot will present the reader with a suspenseful,
puzzling murder mystery. The story is fast paced
keeping the reader’s attention with detail from the
first to the last word.
Highly recommended Read!!!
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Rick Atwood was hoping that murder was a rare occurrence in Seaside Cove, but another body has been found on the beach. Because of the pottery shard, she was holding in her hand and a witness archaeologist Flynn O’Connor is deemed the main suspect. His 10-year-old daughter Alex has become friends with Flynn and knows she didn’t do it. Rick tries to stay out of the police’s way but Alex takes some steps of her own that lands him right in the middle again.
I really fell for these characters in book 1, especially young Miss Alex. She is smart, generous, friendly, and knows how to get her way with both her dad and Marquetta. In addition to helping her dad around the B&B and organizing help to solve the murder, she is doing her darndest to bring Rick and Marquetta together. She is a girl on a mission or two, and I absolutely love it.
The author has written a very clever mystery. The mayor was very prickly this time and Rick knew she was up to something, but did it have anything to do with the murder? I really enjoyed the way Rick pursued his theories and wasn’t afraid to ask the hard questions. I also learned a key piece of information about the murder weapon and more about sunken treasures. I always like it when I learn something new while reading my mysteries. There were plenty of suspects and clues in the sand and elsewhere that kept me guessing until the very end.
Again, the cover calls to me, as did the descriptions of the B&B, especially the attic this time, and the town of Seaside Cove.
Mr. Ambrose has a fun, easy, writing style. It is very comfortable with ebbs and flows. A perfect mystery for a lazy afternoon. I enjoyed the setting, the mystery, and the characters. I am excited for the next book in this series!
Clues in the Sand by Terry Ambrose is the second A Seaside Cove Bed and Breakfast Mystery. Rick Atwood owns the Seaside Cove Bed and Breakfast which he runs with the assistance of his ten-year-old daughter, Alex and Marquetta Weiss, who cooks delectable delights for the guests. A body has been found on the beach clutching a pottery shard. Could the piece of pottery belong to the sunken treasure ship that treasure hunters are trying to locate? Flynn O’Connor is an archaeologist who has been looking for the San Manuel, and she is at the top of the police’s suspect list. The San Manuel is a Manila galleon that sunk off the coast in the sixteenth century and has brought a flood of tourists to Seaside Cove. Flynn, though, is not the only person trying to locate the lost ship. Deputy Adam Cunningham could use Rick’s assistance on the case, but Mayor Carter is adamant that the deputy not use Rick’s services. Rick believes there is something fishy going on, but he is trying to not get involved. Alex enjoyed solving the last case with her father and wants him to get investigate the murder to prove Flynn’s innocence (and so she can get involved too). Rick just wants to keep his daughter safe, but the fates are working against him. The mayor goes one step too far and Rick dives into murder investigation. Who killed the woman on the beach? Does the murder have anything to do with the sunken ship? Join in the fun with Rick and Alex in Clues in the Sand.
I was drawn into Clues in the Sand right away. Terry Ambrose has a lovely writing style. It has an ease to it. The story has good pacing as well. There are some great characters in this book. Alex is adorable. I love her inquisitive nature, intelligence and her adventures spirit. Marquetta Weiss provides a counterbalance to the story. She is the calming influence as well as romantic interest for Rick and mother figure for Alex. I appreciate that the author is not rushing the romance between Rick and Marquetta. There are some great cozy moments in the book. I especially enjoy Alex’s interactions with Marquetta. The mystery is intriguing (who doesn’t love a sunken ship with the possibility of treasure). There are some good clues to aid readers in identifying the guilty party and just the right number of suspects. While Clues in the Sand is the second book in the series, it can be read without having picked up A Treasure to Die For. My rating for Clues in the Sand is 4 out of 5 stars. A Seaside Cove Bed and Breakfast Mystery series reminds me of the cozy mystery series I get (and love) from Annie’s Attic Fiction and Guideposts. Clues in the Sand has the right combination of characters, setting, writing and plot that make for a charming cozy mystery.