Smugglers & Scones
Pippa Winterbourne runs Moorehaven, the Oregon Coast’s quirkiest bed-and-breakfast and former home of world-famous mystery writer A. Raymond Moore. Guests come there to write their own crime novels. When a real-life murder takes a local’s life and washes a handsome boat pilot into her arms, Pippa is yanked into a deadly plot of her own. A tangle of secrets crashes past into present, and Pippa must uncover clues dating back to Seacrest’s Prohibition days, including a secret Moore himself hid from the world.
Juggling her book-writing guests, small-town intrigues, secret club agendas, and a possibly fatal attraction, Pippa must sort fact from fiction to know who to trust before a desperate killer claims a final revenge nearly a century in the making.
This was the first Morgan Talbot book I’ve read and I was pleasantly surprised to find a charming author to add to my Must Keep an Eye on List. It’s a sweet little mystery to help you pass the time without getting bored. The kind of book you need when there’s nothing good on TV, the weather sucks, you’re stuck in a waiting room, or you want to slip into a luxurious bath to while away the hours.
She has an interesting style to her writing that gives the reader conflict packed plot lines, unpredictable characters and plenty of humor. Her character development provides realistically written people who are complex enough to keep the story moving in the right direction while entertaining you through conversationalist dialogue.
The mystery will capture your sense of curiosity to the point you won’t see the conclusion until it hits you but the journey you will go on is encased in evocative imagery, believable incidents and humorously terrifying drama.
She even threw in a bit of romance just to keep your attention from drifting. It’s the perfect book to read this winter as you escape from the cold and dive into a story that will keep you warm from the adrenaline rush.
Thank you to Netgalley and Red Adept Publishing for allowing me to review this book.
*synopsis and pic from amazon.com