Come Shell or High Water - A Review

Review

 

COME SHELL OR HIGH WATER by Molly MacRae
The First Haunted Shell Shop Mystery

 

Convincing her friend Park Ranger Patricia Crowley to bring her to Ocracoke Island right after a hurricane may not have been the best decision, but Maureen was eager to get some answers only found on the island. After finding an exquisitely carved shell in the water and literally stumbling across a dead body, Maureen wakes up in the shop with two concerned senior citizens peering at her. Swearing she saw a man in a tricorn hat and hearing a voice no one else can hear Maureen wonders how badly she's been hurt. Unsure of what happened and with gaps in her memory she'll try to piece things together. But on the island who can she trust?

I had such high hopes for this series, shells, an island setting, and a ghost! Instead I found a convoluted storyline and unpleasant characters. The beginning of the story is very confusing with the reader as baffled as Maureen as to what happened to her. She's just arrived, then she wakes up in the Moon Shell shop, then it's back to just after she arrived and she's exploring. She has gaps in her memory, which is fine, but the reader is also clueless as to what's going in. None of the characters are trustworthy, thus difficult to forge a bond with or even like. The little girl is annoying and even Maureen has secrets. She's fairly judgemental too, at least when it comes to pirates. Eventually the confusion began to clear and I was intrigued to discover the various truths. I found the very end quite compelling piquing my interest in reading the next book in the series.

The first book in a new series COME SHELL OR HIGH WATER has seashells, a pirate ghost, and secrets aplenty. There are also delicious sounding recipes for some of the muffins that Burt makes.

Make 'Em Laugh

Beef Stolen-Off, Last Wool and Testament, Threaded for Trouble, with so many punny titles, it's natural that you can find humor in a lot of cozy mysteries. It makes sense since cozies are a "kindler, gentler, mystery". Not to say to don't find humor in darker genres as well. Some authors lighten things up so that you're less prepared when the big nasty arrives. There's also black comedy, Sweeney Todd and Harold and Maude are great musical and cinematic examples.

Humor makes life fun and interesting and I love when mysteries are able to make me laugh as well. While humor can be found everywhere, there are some cozies that just flaunt it. Don't underestimate these books.  While fun is front and center, characterization and plot are not forgotten. The mystery is still there. While some may be categorized in different subgenres as well, these laugh out loud books all belong to another one of my subgenres-the humor cozy.

One of the funniest books I've read is Alpine for You, the first Passport to Peril mystery by Maddy Hunter and she continues to make me laugh in each new installment. Emily Andrew, her grandmother, and a group of senior citizens from Iowa travel the world in this delightful series.

It should come as no surprise that Laura Levine writes a very funny series. After all, she was a writer for The Bob Newhart Show, Laverne and Shirley and other sitcoms. The Jaine Austen series takes us to Los Angeles where we meet freelance writer Jaine Austen and her cat Prozac.

Jeffrey Cohen brings mysteries and movies together in his Double Feature series. Elliot Freed owns the Comedy Tonight movie cinema-you guessed it-all comedy movies.

Bubbles Yablonsky is a hair dresser striving to be a journalist in Lehigh, Pennsylvania in the Bubbles Books by Sarah Stohmeyer. I still giggle about her attending Two Guys Community College. (Anyone of a certain age from this part of the country will know why.)

If you're looking for laughs along with murder be sure to check out these series.

Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading Last Wool and Testament by Molly MacRae. This is the first book in the Haunted Yarn Shop mysteries. Kath Rutlege returns to Blue Plum, Tennessee for her grandmother's funeral only to discover secrets, murder, and a ghost!

Haunted

     While I'm always in the mood for paranormal mysteries, they seem to be even more fitting in October. There's a crisp chill in the air, darkness comes earlier, and you get the feeling that something spooky could be just around the corner. Halloween will be here soon and thoughts turn to ghosts...at least my thoughts do. I love reading about haunted buildings, especially local haunts. All kinds of places may be haunted-and our cozy mysteries give us many examples!
     If you enter Buy the Book Bookstore in Rhode Island you'll meet one of the owners Penelope Thornton-McClure. You may also see a shadow of a man in a fedora. His name is Jack Shepard, a private investigator, and a ghost. You can read more about them in The Haunted Bookshop Mysteries by Alice Kimberly.
     Perhaps you need a place to stay and want to try a nice inn. May I recommend a new guest house on the Jersey Shore? The Haunted Guesthouse Mysteries written by E.J. Copperman introduce us to single mom Alison Kerby who is renovating an old Victorian and turning it in to a guest house. The house is already occupied however, by two ghosts...and we meet more ghosts as the series progresses.
     It's said that remodeling homes increases paranormal activity. Ask Melanie Turner what she thinks. You can find her in Juliet Blackwell's Haunted Home Renovation series.
     Want to have a quiet evening knitting? You may want to stop in The Weaver's Cat in Blue Plum, Tennessee. Members of the TGIF Club (Thank God It's Fiber) will be sure to help you...and perhaps the late owner will as well. Molly MacRae writes the Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries.
     Some ghosts are more free roaming than others. Bailey Ruth Raeburn returns to her home town to help solve mysteries after her death in the Bailey Ruth Mysteries by Carolyn Hart.
     Other ghosts haunt people. Sam Wescott finds his ex-wife, Hollis Ball, and pesters her into helping discover who murdered him in a series written by Helen Chappell.
     These are just a few of the many ghost mysteries out there. This October I dare you to come face to page with at least one of our cozy mystery ghosts.