Part of Bookstore Cafe Mystery, book 8
First published 2020
Krissy Hancock runs a bookstore café in Pine Hills, Ohio. When she helps a friend clean out her late mother's belongings, she learns about Wade, the woman's brother who was killed three decades ago. No one ever found his murderer. The cold case takes on new meaning when Krissy realizes that Rita, a member of her writing group, once dated Wade. Their romance had scandalized the small town because of their significant age difference. Rita is now elderly and sits in Krissy's literary circle alongside another member who worked in law enforcement. The trio begins their own investigation into Wade's death. Krissy interviews the men who used to drink coffee with Wade and sifts through years of local rumors and gossip. She hunts for concrete proof buried beneath layers of small-town speculation. As her amateur investigation deepens, the case grows more complex than she anticipated. Long-buried secrets begin emerging from Pine Hills' past. Krissy faces the challenge of distinguishing facts from decades of hearsay to identify Wade's killer.
Genres: fiction, mystery, crime, contemporary, cozy-mystery, amateur-sleuth
Vibes: community-driven, cozy, nostalgic, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, found-family, intergenerational-friendship, small-town-secrets
Setting: Pine Hills, Ohio
Period: 21st-century, contemporary
290 pages · Kindle Edition · Kensington Cozies
Content warnings: death, murder