Ex-cop-turned-P.I. Maggie Doyle is stuck chaperoning a group of bratty summer camp kids to an archaeological dig on Whisper Island. After a day of fart jokes, fidget spinners, and fist fights, Maggie’s regretting volunteering—and then one of her feral charges discovers a skeleton.At first it looks like a cold case, but the situation takes a sinister turn when a member of the excavation team winds … team winds up dead. Maggie is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery before more bodies stack up. With her police officer boyfriend on vacation, his nitwitted fellow officer is what passes for law and order on the island. Now if only she can dodge the bumbling Sergeant O’Shea…
Includes a recipe for one of Maggie’s favorite cocktails!
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Not as good as previous books
Read the whole series and waiting on more.
“The 39 Cupcakes” earns 5/5 Aunt Noreen’s…Scones! A Delightful Surprise!
I am new to Zara Keane’s Movie Club Mystery series, so starting with the fourth book in the series might be problematic for a newbie. There were some character connections that I didn’t completely understand, totally my bad for not starting at the beginning, but I caught on and ended up very much entertained. Chaperoning a bunch of kids to an archaeological site? Well, as a former teacher, I saw the inherent problems, questionable humor of the eight-year-old notwithstanding, and that one ‘uncooperative kid’ that makes the trip more memorable than ever imagined by finding a skeleton. No, not a centuries old Viking as the archeologists were hoping, the dental work and bullet wound rules that out, but evidence of a curious cold case. Zara has penned an exciting ‘page-turner,’ that heats up with a wife wanting her cheating husband followed, a competing business opening up across the street, Maggie and Liam navigating through a budding relationship with his reluctant daughter in tow, a new officer joining the investigations, and another more recently deceased body is found.
I love Maggie Doyle, an ex-cop turned private investigator whose office is located in the former projection room upstairs from her aunt’s Movie Theater Café. Kudos to the clever name for Maggie’s business—Movie Reel Investigations. I enjoyed her cleverness and her knowledge of police work, very professional; she didn’t just fall into the evidence, she has a real talent for it. And although her patience when confronted with her boyfriend’s disgruntled daughter is tested, I had experience with that, I liked how she handled it. I also enjoyed the dynamic between Maggie’s two aunts, typical sisters, I think, and Lenny really catching on to this detective work, the new police officer settling in, and the various Irish references. This was a great book, and I am definitely intrigued to go back and read the rest of the series.
Fun Cozy Mystery!
This is a refreshing cozy mystery with a clean romance on the side. The story takes place on a beautiful Irish coastal island. The main characters are younger than in many cozies, so there is a lot more tech involved.All of the characters are real and well developed. The emotions are realistic as are the motivations. The plot is nicely complex. I found myself figuring things out as the detectives did and not before. I have not read any others of this series and this book stands alone quite well. It was such a good story that I plan on reading all of the other episodes. I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to share my honest review.
Five stars! Great story! Complicated, many sided mystery with a surprise ending. Maggie is clever and brave, Lenny is crazy, Reynolds is romantic and Sergeant O’Shea is, well, Sergeant O’Shea. Loved this book!
I received a free eARC with no strings attached.