Fiction, Cozy Mystery
4****
Blurb: Winter has wrapped the Wisconsin Northwoods in a bitter chill, and Emmy Cooper’s family lake cottage resort, Cooper’s Cove, is no exception. But it’s someone from Emmy’s past who’s about to bring the real frostbite! A stormy mix-up at a local hotel reroutes an unwanted group of guests to Cooper’s Cove Resort, including Emmy’s former boss and the reason Emmy slunk home with her tail between her legs, Gwenda Caperwell. As if being face-to-face with an old grudge wasn’t bad enough, a fierce blizzard picks that moment to strike, leaving Emmy snowed in with her least favorite person on earth. But things go from bad to downright chilling when Gwenda suddenly turns up dead—colder than the January air—and Emmy’s snowed in with a corpse. With the roads impassable and the safety of the other guests at stake, the local law enforcement had no choice but to rely on Emmy and her parents to help solve the mystery and catch the real killer, much to the dismay of Emmy’s love interest, Officer Dean Erickson. But it quickly becomes clear that plenty of the other guests snowed in at Cooper’s Cove had a reason to want the Gwenda dead. Battling through drifts of secrets and lies, Emmy must navigate the frosty web of suspicion to uncover the murderer—before the next victim is iced!
Thoughts: This is the third in a series, but you don’t need to have read the first two to know what is going on. The author lets you in on who’s who and their background with a deft hand. The story has great imagery. Set in Wisconsin during a blizzard, her descriptions actually made me shiver and want a mug of hot chocolate!
Emmy runs a lodge with her parents, has great friends, and a cop boyfriend. The lodge is booked for the week with people coming in for a skiing competition and an ice fishing event. Unfortunately, her ex-boss and workers as well as others she knows from her past. Unfortunately, a blizzard traps them all at the lodge. When Gwenda (her ex-boss and the queen of mean) literally falls dead at Emmy’s feet, the entire family comes together to help solve who killed the woman. In addition, they have to provide unexpected meals, entertainment, and comfort to the guests – even Emmy’s old high school nemesis.
While they survive the blizzard, nasty guests, and solve the murder, there are a couple strings left dangling (lightly) so you know there is more to come (yay!). I loved that Emmy is a bit of a klutz. And the introduction of Mr. Cat was fun.
Definitely recommended! I can’t wait for the rest.
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