by: Julia Buckley
Series: Writer’s Apprentice Mystery
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release Date: July 5, 2016
Source: Penguin Berkley Prime Crime
An aspiring suspense novelist lands in the middle of a real crime, in the first in a captivating new series by the author of the Undercover Dish Mysteries.
Lena London's literary dreams are coming true—as long as she can avoid any real-life villains...
Camilla Graham’s bestselling suspense novels inspired Lena London to become a writer, so when she lands a job as Camilla’s new assistant, she can’t believe her luck. Not only will she help her idol craft an enchanting new mystery, she’ll get to live rent-free in Camilla’s gorgeous Victorian home in the quaint town of Blue Lake, Indiana.
But Lena’s fortune soon changes for the worse. First, she lands in the center of small town gossip for befriending the local recluse. Then, she stumbles across one thing that a Camilla Graham novel is never without—a dead body, found on her new boss’s lakefront property.
Now Lena must take a page out of one of Camilla’s books to hunt down clues in a real crime that seems to be connected to the novelist’s mysterious estate—before the killer writes them both out of the story for good...
REVIEW
The setup for A Dark and Stormy Murder is the dream of every book lover. Lena London is offered and accepts the personal assistant position for her favorite author, Camilla Graham. The added benefit is she will move into Camilla’s house and Camilla will allow her to help write some of the books she knows and loves so well.
Set in the small, picturesque town of Blue Lake, Indiana, A Dark and Stormy Murder brings two women who love to write about mystery and suspense face to face with a real life true crime or two.
On her very first day in Blue Lake, Lena discovers the body of a man on the beach outside of Camilla’s house. She can’t help but to wonder who would kill the man and why. Lena starts to make new friends rather quickly, from Camilla’s next door neighbor (Sam West) who seems to have the attention of the police himself to a stay-at-home mom (Laney Waldrop) who is just a little too friendly. She soon discovers almost everyone she comes in contact with is curious about Camilla’s house. Lena also catches the eye of her neighbor Sam and Detective Doug Heller.
A Dark and Stormy Murder not only gives you a murder mystery to solve, but there’s also the case of Sam’s missing wife, Victoria. Rest assured when two mystery writers are on the case, things will definitely be discovered. I can’t begin to explain how much this book captivated my attention. I loved getting the opportunity to learn about the characters and follow Lena and Camilla as they put all the clues together. I have to point out not everything gets solved in this book and that was a little frustrating. But it definitely has me wondering what’s going to happen next.
**Received a copy from Berkley in exchange for an honest unbiased opinion.**
Rating: 4
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This sounds very good, thanks for the review.
ReplyDeletePenney
It was good and I'm looking forward to the next book. Thanks for stopping by Penney.
DeleteIt does sound like a dream job. Looking forward to reading it!
ReplyDeleteHi Julia.
DeleteThis is the second book I've read from Julia Buckley and I'm really liking her. I really like the mystery within a mystery storyline. I can't wait to see what happens.