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From Beer to Eternity–librarian to barkeeper
From Beer to Eternity
by Sherry Harris
When an author you like starts a new series, there are always some questions. Will I like this series as well as the last one? Will this just be a rehash of the previous series with new names for the characters and a different setting? Will the plot be fresh and intriguing? I can answer those questions for Sherry Harris’ Sea Glass Saloon Mystery Series. I really enjoyed the first book, From Beer to Eternity. She has started a completely different series, and it is good!
Chloe Jackson goes to Emerald Cove in the Panhandle of Florida when her best friend Boone dies while on deployment in Afghanistan. She had promised him that she would help his grandmother Vivi, owner of a bar on the beach, if something happened to him. Chloe takes a leave of absence from her position as a children’s librarian in Chicago to attend his memorial service and help Vivi who doesn’t seem to want her help.
It is hard to fit into the tight knit community of Emerald Cove, especially as a Northerner. After a local is found knifed outside the back door of the bar, it is hard to know whom to trust. From Beer to Eternity is populated with interesting characters. The first person Chloe finds she can open up to is Joaquín, a very handsome and skilled barkeeper. He puts on a show for the ladies to earn great tips, but his heart belongs to his husband Michael. Rhett is another interesting local—good-looking and always on hand to help Chloe. Is he a murderer keeping her in his sights? Who is this Ann Williams that Chloe keeps hiring as a handywoman? How about the two cowboys who try to run Chloe off the road?
As Chloe tries to find the killer and get the focus off of Vivi, she also struggles to find a place to live during high tourist season. She hopes to develop a relationship with Vivi who seems to want nothing to do with her. So Chloe starts working at the bar without being hired and noses around town, trying to ask questions without being killed.
Someone is not happy with Chloe and her investigation. Chloe turns over a lot of seashells that are hiding relationships and secrets and puts herself in danger. It must be time to return to bustling Chicago and immerse herself in books and children once more, leaving behind Emerald Cove and the small group of Heritage Business owners who are resisting change.
I would like to extend my thanks to Netgalley and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #1 in the Sea Glass Saloon Mystery Series
Publication: July 28, 2020—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
The desk was old and scarred. The chair, modern and ergonomic. almost seemed like a metaphor for this area—the old and new trying to work together, but not always succeeding.
I wished I were back at my job in the library, wiping snotty noses and recommending books. That job was like being Santa Claus. Finding the right book for the right child was a great gift. To see their shiny, happy faces at story time brought me joy.
“Rumors? About me?” As far as I could tell, Emerald Cove thrived on rumors and innuendo. Unfortunately, so far almost everyone but Leah and Ivy had doctoral degrees in how to say something without saying anything.
A Fatal Fiction–editing can be dangerous
A Fatal Fiction
by Kaitlyn Dunnett
Mikki Lincoln is a retired middle school English teacher in Kaitlyn Dunnett’s A Fatal Fiction. In order to remodel her childhood home that has been neglected for many years, she supplements her retirement income using her skills as a copy editor. She lived in Maine for about fifty years, but has returned to her hometown, Lenape Hollow, NY. While stopped at a gas station, seventy year old Mikki is verbally attacked by a very angry businessman who has cheated a lot of people over the years by luring them into failing investments. Video of the encounter goes viral, even though Mikki never understood the cause of his anger. Mikki is the prime suspect when her attacker, CEO Greg Onslow, is found dead on one of the properties his company is developing.
Mikki is determined to discover who killed Onslow, but he was not a very nice man, so there are multiple suspects. Friends and family discourage her investigations as they seem dangerous at times.
The editing aspect of the story revolves around Sunny Feldman, last of the owners of a famous resort in the Catskills. She has hired Mikki to edit her semi tell-all memoirs of the celebrities who frequented the resort when she was a teenager. Onslow has bought the property for a development venture. Could their interests be colliding to cause these problems? Could Onslow’s ex-wife or even his second wife have killed him? There are some interesting locals who may have been involved as well. Most importantly, will the murderer set his or her sights on Mikki to cover up the crime and stop the investigation?
I would like to extend my thanks to Netgalley and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: 1. #3 in the Deadly Edits Mystery Series, but will work as a standalone.
2. At the end of the book, there is a section that will especially appeal to those who love language. It is composed of several pages of language and grammar tips including warnings on split infinitives, dangling modifiers, and usage of the terms swearing and foul language. The tips are interesting and often humorous.
Publication: June 30, 2020—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
Warmth crept up my neck and into my face. I was torn between feeling a sense of pride for standing up for myself and enduring acute embarrassment because I’d lost control.
Since I used the “teacher” voice I’d perfected over decades of dealing with junior high students, he caved, but he wasn’t happy about it. I’d have said he was sulking, except that there was a definite look of panic in his eyes.
Unfortunately, to properly put on the airs of a grand dame one really needs to be sipping tea from a delicate china cup. I was drinking my coffee out of a Star Wars mug, a Christmas present from my great-niece.
education pathways 