PUT ANOTHER CRIME IN THE JUKEBOX by Misty Simon
Fiction, Cozy Mystery, #2 in Series
5*****
Blurb: Welcome to the Sunny Side Up Diner, where the jukeboxes jive and the secrets thrive…With her dream of opening a diner in her small hometown realized, Jax Tapman finally feels like her life is on the right track. She and her best friend and business partner, Dani, have lots of customers. Things are promising with her new boyfriend, Eliot. And she’s looking forward to a relaxing evening at the local movie theater with Dani and her bestie’s mom. Unfortunately, there’s one thing that can always ruin a gal’s good mood—murder. When the curtain goes down on the film, Jax finds a woman’s dead body in the front of the theater. Worse yet, the victim was last seen alive in a knock down drag out fight with Dani’s mom. Suddenly Dani’s desperate, her mom’s a suspect, and Jax finds herself caught up in another murder investigation that has her in way over her head. She quickly finds that diving into the history of the two older women is not as easy as whipping up the fluffy pancakes everyone loves on a Sunday morning. Between the secrets, lies, and a pair of mysterious keys Jax finds hidden in her vintage jukebox, she’s not sure who to trust. With her friendship on the line and danger closing in, it’s up to Jax to uncover the truth…or die trying.
THOUGHTS: I fell in love with this series with the first book and this one was a good addition. In this one, Jax is trying to help her best friend Dani prove that Dani’s mother didn’t kill off her old enemy. They come up with a lot of suspects, but almost all paths lead to Nancy (Dani’s mom). As bad as Dani’s relationship is with her mom—and it is nasty—Nancy is still her mother. So Jax, her new beau Eliot, Dani, and Dani’s new boyfriend Ian go into sleuth mode and look for the real killer. But there are a lot of snags along the way. Like threatening notes left on Jax’s windshield.
I love the “Spy Spindle” that they use at the diner – when someone hears some bit of gossip that might have something to do with the murder, it goes on an order sheet on the spindle. I love how Jax’s cat Stella Luna is obsessed with Eliot. I love the quirky characters and the setting and the way everyone interacts with everyone else. This story is in true Misty Simon style with laughs among the sleuthing. Expect fun, great characters, and a thread with a key attached that continues from the first book into this one and goes on. I can’t wait to read the next one.
Definitely recommended.
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