Cover Story by Erika Chase

Cover Story by Erika Chase ISBN-13: 9780425252116 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: August 6, 2013

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
It’s time to celebrate when Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straws Society member Molly Mathews’s childhood friend, Teensy Coldicutt, moves back to town—complete with a published book. But as the club plans Teensy’s book launch, Molly is attacked and Teensy’s books are stolen. Who would be so desperate for 150 copies of a sexy novel written by an elderly widow? Then Ashton Corners is hit with another shock when Teensy’s publisher turns up dead—and fellow club member and former police chief Bob Miller is taken into custody.

Convinced that Teensy’s missing books hold the key to the murder, Lizzie Turner and her band of readers are determined to hunt them down. But the plot thickens when their search leads them straight into a counterfeiting ring. Now they must unravel this surprise twist before the killer gets the chance to write someone else off…


My Review:
Cover Story is a cozy mystery. This novel is the third in the series. You don't need to read the previous novel to understand this one, and this novel didn't spoil the mystery in the previous books.

The characters were interesting, but they seemed a bit out of touch with reality in this one. They seemed more concerned about the books and being able to continue the book launch than the fact that people were dead. When some of the missing books are found, Lizzie is angry that the thugs threw them in a place that was hidden were they'd be ruined instead of politely returning them. She seemed more upset by the ruined books than by these guys leaving a trail of bodies behind.

Lizzie also repeatedly promises her boyfriend that she won't snoop and then promptly does so. I didn't like Lizzie much in this one. There were a lot of detail about the clothes everyone was wearing and what food they ate for every meal and snack, but I don't personally find that interesting.

I identified the main whodunit at the beginning of the book based simply on "cozy mystery writing rules," but then clues backed it up. Whodunit wasn't obvious and the characters had no reason to suspect whodunit, so it's good for them that whodunit panicked and exposed self at the end. The sub-mysteries in this story were not really ones you could puzzle out based on clues.

There were no graphic sex scenes. There was a very minor amount of explicit bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this mystery to those who like clothing and food.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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