Review of Getaway With Murder

Getaway With Murder

Mountain Lodge Mystery, Book #1

Diane Kelly

5 Stars

Getaway With Murder is the first in a brand new cozy series from Diane Kelly set in a lodge in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where secrets hide behind every hill.

As if hitting the half-century mark wasn’t enough, Misty Murphy celebrated her landmark birthday by amicably ending her marriage and investing her settlement in a dilapidated mountain lodge at the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains. With the old inn teetering on both a bluff and bankruptcy, she must have lost her ever-loving mind.

Luckily, handyman Rocky Crowder has a knack for rehabbing virtual ruins and for doing it on a dime, and to Misty’s delight, the lodge is fully booked on opening night, every room filled with flexible folks who’d slipped into spandex and ascended the peak for a yoga retreat with plans to namastay for a full week. Misty and her guests are feeling zen—at least until the yoga instructor is found dead.

With a killer on the loose and the lodge’s reputation hanging in the balance, Misty must put her detective-skills to the test. Only one thing is as clear as a sunny mountain morning—she must solve the crime before the lodge ends up, once again, on the brink.  (Goodreads)

Review:

The characters are well rounded and well developed.  Misty is trying her hand at being the owner of a mountain lodge.  Shortly after she has her first paying customers, someone is killed.  She has a whole inn full of suspects, including her staff.  She will have to figure out who the killer is before someone else is killed.  I found it refreshing that Misty was not butting heads with law enforcement.  Deputy Highcloud kept Misty in the loop and welcomed her input.  That was a nice change.

The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and it pulled me into the story from the very beginning.  The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read.  I thought the mystery was well plotted and it was not easily solved.  There were plenty of suspects to consider and I did not know the culprit until the reveal at the end.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well written cozy mystery.  In fact, all the books are very good, you cannot go wrong reading her stories.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.