“Very intriguing, and it is a book I couldn’t put down. You feel like you are one of the characters trying to solve the mystery with Sean and Sara. I love it when a murder mystery keeps me guessing until the very end.” Dialogue with Doris Running junkie Katie Carpenter takes a tumble down a ravine and ends up facedown in the Hudson River. The police conclude her death was an accident, but those … conclude her death was an accident, but those who were close to Katie aren’t buying that she just tripped and fell—including her pro-athlete boyfriend. But it’s Katie’s fitness trainer and friend who hires the McKinleys to investigate.
Anything but an easy case to solve, Sean and Sara will break a sweat trying to figure out who had the most to gain from the young woman’s death. Sadly for Sean most of the evidence seems stacked against Katie’s boyfriend—a man Sean idolizes. Can he put aside being starstruck long enough to view things objectively? If Katie’s killer is going to be caught, he and Sara will need to remain flexible and it might require bending the rules a bit.
McKinley Mysteries are short & sweet just like that coffee you crave. Savor the perfect blend of romance, humor, and murder with zero additives such as foul language, graphic violence or sex. These international bestselling cozies are bound to hit the spot and keep you coming back for more. This is an addiction you can afford to have. Get started today.
Readers love Exercise is Murder:
“A brilliant mystery you won’t want to let pass you by!”
“Kept me guessing from the beginning.”
“A real page-turner of a mystery that I didn’t want to put down.”
“I can highly recommend you grab a cup of tea and put your feet up to read this book.”
“I love it when a murder mystery keeps me guessing until the very end. A must-read!”
“Totally entertaining… Highly recommend.”
“I for one would recommend this series for a TV production.”
“The story is very intriguing, and it is a book I couldn’t put down.”
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Carolyn Arnold sure knows how to write a good mystery, be it a cozy or police procedurals. She creates magic with her pen. Every time I pick up one of her books, I know I would be entertained and she would have me guessing from start to finish. Exercise Is Murder was no different. This is the twelfth book in the McKinley series. Readers can the series out of order as the author provides sufficient background information, so readers can follow the lives of the main cast.
The title captured my attention. As we, all know exercise can be brutal but rarely is it fatal, unless there is some underlying health condition. However, it proved fatal for Katie Carpenter, not because of an underlying health condition, but because someone pushed her to her death while she went jogging.
Once again, Sean and Sara McKinley are called on to investigate, as the police had closed the case, ruling it as an accident. On the face, one may consider it an accident, but as the McKinley’s dug deeper, there was more to Katie’s than they first realized. Who would want Katie dead and why?
The large pool of suspects, which ranged from a fitness instructor to a lover, proved that this would not be an open and shut case. Ms. Arnold kept me guessing at each page turn. Just when I thought I knew who the guilty person was, the author places another plausible suspect on my radar and I find myself re-thinking who it could be, several times throughout the story.
I had a great time re-visiting with the main characters. Sean and Sara (former police officers) are enjoying married life with few minor disagreements. Working, exercising and having fun together helps to cement their relationship. James, an investigator, and Adam their technical adviser are a riot. Their interactions with each other were fun and snarky. Persons who are not familiar with them may think they are trading insults, but it was their way of showing respect for each other skills. Then there was the grumpy medical examiner, Dr. Needham who happens to get along with the dead more than he does with the living.
Conclusion/Recommendation
Exercise Is Murder was an entertaining and addictive read. Overall, this was another great addition to the series. If you enjoy cozy mysteries, then you should give this series a chance.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Exercise is Murder by Carolyn Arnold is McKinley Mysteries, Book 12. A great cozy mystery series that features Sean and Sara McKinley, former detectives turned PI’s, Pay It Forward Investigations. In this book, Katie Carpenter a woman who enjoys running has fallen down a ravine and is found facedown in the Hudson River. The police say that it was an accident but her friends don’t believe that. They think she was murdered.
Sean and Sara McKinley are contacted and they take on the case. This is not an easy case as they soon find out. The suspects range from a prominent sports figure to a mousy schoolteacher. As the investigation continues, they find that there was a lot more about Katie’s life than thought. Who would want Katie dead and why?
Even though this book is the 12th in the series, it is a standalone read. This is the first I have read in this series, I have read a couple other books in different mystery series that I also enjoyed. That said, I did enjoy this cozy mystery. An easy to read book, I read it in two sittings. I loved the characters of husband-wife team private investigators. The development of the other characters was seamless. Upon reading, I could see how this series is popular, after 12 of them it must be!
Carolyn Arnold is an author whose writing I am becoming more and more immersed in. So when I was given a copy of her new book ‘Exercise Is Murder’, I was so excited to get stuck in reading it!
First of all, I love the title! It’s quirky and fitting and appealed to me instantly as a reader. It drew me in, into a book that was quite frankly unputdownable.
The book is about Sara and Sean, a murder mystery solving duo that are asked to investigate the suspicious death of ‘Katie Carpenter’, a fitness enthusiast whose body is found at the bottom of the Hudson River.
It looks like an accident, however everything to those who knew Katie screams ‘suspicion’, and non one believes it was a jog gone wrong. So it’s up to Sara and Sean to crack the case.
This book was a page-turner. I don’t often read murder mysteries, so it was good to read one which was well written and easy to read. I found myself becoming more and more embroiled in the investigation.
I would recommend to all mystery lovers, and anyone who is looking for a good read. It is well thought out, and I really enjoyed the plot. You can read this as a standalone, or as part of a series.
This is the 12th book in the McKinley Mysteries series. I haven’t read any of the previous books, but they are all different stories, so you don’t have to read them in any order.
Sean and Sara are investigators for “Pay It Forward Investigations” (Quick recap) Sara and Sean used to work for Albany police department, and they would still be there if it hadn’t been for Sean and a random act of kindness to an elderly gentleman. And who in turn paid it forward ….. The man was in fact a multimillionaire, and so Sean and Sara were rich overnight……
The couple are called in after a murder involving a runner is committed. (Their personal trainer has asked for they’re help)
There aren’t many suspects, and sadly for Sean his idol is in the frame (Levi is a pitcher for a baseball team)
The police have closed the case and called it an accident, but Sean wants to find out more, the more he listens to the detective, the more he thinks they aren’t really interested, it’s an open and shut case!!!!
As the case evolves, both Sean and Sara are convinced it wasn’t an accident. If it was Levi, then why?
I have to admit I’m not usually a fan of husband and wife duo’s (I instantly think of the old 80’s telly series “Hart to Hart”) but I was pleasantly surprised, it’s really well written, Sean and Sara bounce along pretty well. Plenty of laughs and a few surprises. And the fact they don’t have a perfect marriage (Sara finds out that Sean is a huge sports fan and kept it from her) it doesn’t seem like much, but if it’s important to Sean then Sara wants to know, she feels a little hurt, is there anything else he’s hiding? Is there more to her husband than meets the eye?
We have a few characters that have been in previous books, and they all seem relevant to the story (nothing worse than having people that aren’t really needed in the story)
It’s a short story, so it won’t take long to find out whodunnit.
And the murderer is …..
Well you will have to read to find that bit out
Katie Carpenter leaves for her daily running jaunt and is later found at the bottom of a ravine and face down in the Hudson River.
When Sean and Sara investigate, they find that almost everyone who knew Katie do not believe that she just tripped and fell …an accident. Katie’s boyfriend is a close friend of Sean’s and when fingers start pointing his way, Sean is hard pressed to believe his friend is guilty of murder.
But who would want Katie dead? The age old question of … who gains? … is looked at.
This is a fast, easy read with elements of mystery, surprise, humor, a bit of romance, and characters that are finely defined. There are plenty of suspects to follow and sifting through the lies and secrets . Although 12th in the series, this is easily read as a stand alone. i recommend starting at the beginning to see how these particular characters have evolved over time.
Many thanks to the author / Hibbert and Stiles for the digital copy of this entertaining cozy mystery. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.