No More Time - A Review & Giveaway

Review

NO MORE TIME by Suzanne Trauth

The Fifth Dodie O'Dell Mystery

Dodie O'Dell and her boyfriend, Bill, are enjoying a relaxing vacation on the Jersey Shore. Away from the Windjammer and the Etonville Little Theater all that's on the menu is relaxing on the beach, eating good food, and sipping delectable cocktails with no drama. All that changes when Dodie's old boyfriend shows up and decides to camp out on their porch. Then the troupe from Etonville arrive, having received a last minute shot to compete in the New Jersey Community Theater Festival. Stunned that Bill is taking everything in stride, Dodie is less relaxed, especially when an old friend winds up dead and her ex becomes the main suspect. So much for a relaxing vacation.

You learn a lot about people when they're on vacation and we learn a lot about Dodie and Bill in this fifth Dodie O'Dell Mystery. We see how the Etonville Police Chief can be laid back and carefree. And we see how Dodie can't resist a mystery. While I enjoyed the break from Etonville responsibilities and felt bad for the loss of privacy and romance time for Bill and Dodie I loved that Etonville came to the shore. The ELT crew are a hoot and I loved their interactions in the competition and with the other theatre folk.

Ultimately, NO MORE TIME deals with acceptance. Seeing the past for what is was and moving to the future. Loving people for who they are without trying to change them. Dealing with life's surprises with grace and dignity.

Although set on a beach and perfect for summer reading NO MORE TIME is more than a beach read. It's a great character driven mystery that's fun, but has depth as well. The book had me smiling and I closed the final page with a grin on my face!

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No More Time (A Dodie O'Dell Mystery) by Suzanne Trauth

About The Book

 

No More Time (A Dodie O'Dell Mystery)  

Cozy Mystery 5th in Series  

Lyrical Underground (July 23, 2019)  

Paperback: 214 pages 

DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY

Restaurant manager Dodie O’Dell has found her niche in the cozy New Jersey town of Etonville, creating menus that make a delicious double-act with the community theater’s productions. Now she’s ready for a vacation at the Jersey Shore town she called home before a hurricane hit. Sun, salty air, and seagulls make for a nostalgic escape from regular life—until a contingent from Etonville arrives to compete in a Jersey Shore theater festival.

Roped into helping her former boss cater the event, Dodie also gets a visit from her old flame, Jackson, who’s hoping to revive his charter boat business and is looking for a place to crash. Before Dodie can tell him that ship has sailed, Jackson’s partner is found murdered on his boat. Dodie knows her ex is a mooch, but she’s sure he’s no killer. But as she follows a trail of evidence that leads into her own past, Dodie stumbles on a dangerous conspiracy theory that could bring the festival to a shocking finale…

About the Author

 

Suzanne Trauth is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and a former theatre professor at a university. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Dramatists Guild, and League of Professional Theatre Women. When she is not writing, Suzanne coaches actors and serves as a celebrant performing wedding ceremonies. She lives in Woodland Park, New Jersey.

Author Links:  

Webpage: www.suzannetrauth.com  
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuzanneTrauth/  
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuzanneMTrauth  
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6187623.Suzanne_M_Trauth  

Purchase Links:

Amazon - B&N - Kobo

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Excerpt

By noon we were both hot and famished. I suggested a break from the sun at the tiki bar and we gathered our beach gear and trudged through the sand to the Polynesian music. We were halfway through our bucket of steamed clams when an elderly twosome at a table next to ours gasped in shock. We couldn’t help noticing.

“Is everything okay?” I asked gently.

The woman’s head bobbled and her wide-brimmed sunhat swung from side to side. She picked up the newspaper she’d been reading, the Candle Beach Courier, a local rag, and shoved the front page at us. “He was such a nice boy. We knew his parents years ago.” I smiled sympathetically and scanned the sheet. Then I gasped.

“Dodie, what’s the matter?” Lola said. “Were you acquainted with him too?” the woman asked.

I nodded numbly. Was I ever. The headline read LOCAL MAN DEAD. Underneath was a photo of the victim: It was Vinnie C. I rotated the paper so Lola could see the front page. “It’s him,” I said hoarsely.

Lola blinked. “Vincent Carcherelli,” she read.

I scanned the story. Apparently his body had been washed up on the beach sometime overnight and was discovered by a jogger early today in time to make the mid-morning edition. The police were calling it a drowning and speculating that he’d fallen off his boat, The Bounty, which had drifted half a mile off the shoreline. No foul play suspected at the moment but the investigation was ongoing.

I offered to return the newspaper but the couple refused to accept it, saying the story was too upsetting. They picked up their bill and left.

“Wow. What a coincidence. We were talking about how Jackson saw him yesterday …” Lola stopped. A light bulb went on. “The police will want to speak with Jackson. He might have been one of the last people to see Vinnie alive.”

It was Lola’s last word that brought me up short: alive. Jackson had been steamed during that meeting on the boardwalk. Did he know anything about Vinnie’s last hours? If Bill were here he’d tell me to mind my own business, let Jackson alone, let the police determine the actual cause of death. Bill was right, of course. But something about the whole event didn’t sit right with me. Why did Jackson lie about what happened when he met Vinnie?

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