Murder Among Friends Charlie Kingsley Mystery #4
Cozy Animal Mystery, Ghost Mystery,
Love Based Publishing
Aug 18, 2022
Kindle
311
Amazon
Five friends went into the woods. Only four came back.
If something ails you, Charlie Kingsley likely has a tea to fix it.
So, when Charlie witnesses a young woman faint on the side of the road, she has no choice but to offer her services. (Along with a cup of her famous tea, of course.)
In no time at all, the young woman is back to normal, which is good news, as she's about to go camping with her friends.
Charlie thinks that will be the last of it … so imagine her surprise when she gets a phone call that one of the friends is missing.
Is the friend simply lost? Or did something more disturbing happen?
Luckily, Charlie is not only on the case, but fueled with tea, as this will prove to be one of her most puzzling crimes to date.
Meet Charlie. Better known as “Aunt Charlie” from the award-winning Secrets of Redemption series. She's back, making teas and solving cases in this funny, twisty, cozy mystery series set in the 1990s in Redemption, Wisconsin.
While this book can be read as a standalone, you may find it more enjoyable to read them in order, which is:
Reviewed by Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
Once again Charlie’s special tea leads her to a mystery, her teas seem to be a magnet for trouble and gets her investigative juices flowing. When she sees a young girl faint she immediately offers to go home and get a tea that will help her, a kind act that will get her involved with a group of friends, Naomi, Lynette, Sloane, Mace and Raymond. Everyone agrees to wait for Charlie at the diner while she retrieves her tea, and she discovers the reason the five of them have come to Redemption a search for the Fire Cottage, another Redemption legend that grants one’s desire or curses them.
Raymond lost his cousin ten years ago when he went looking for the Fire Cottage and Raymond is hoping to find out what happened to him. All the friends will be going their separate ways, so this is their last hoorah with each other, a last hoorah that will leave one of them missing. Camping in an area off limits, the five friends go in search of the elusive Fire Cottage, Mace and Lynette determined to video tape everything in the hopes it will open doors for them when they go to LA.
Charlie gets involved when the kids call her for help after Lynette disappears and she immediately drives them to the police station where Officer Brandon Wyle comes face to face with his worst nightmare, Charlie. Despite constant warnings to stay out of police investigations and leave it to the professionals his warnings go unheeded. Wyle warns Charlie to stay clear of the friends since no one knows anything about them and one of them could be responsible for Lynette’s disappearance. Once again, she can’t help herself and not only doesn’t stay away from them but invites them to stay in her house.
As Charlie spends time with her house guests she learns important information, information that could help find Lynette. The more she delves into their lives the more she learns about the missing girl and what she learns is not pretty. A rich, spoiled girl who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. Of course, Lynette’s character should have nothing to do with why she disappeared or did it.
Although this is a stand-alone book it would be a pity to miss out on all of Charlie’s other mysteries. Charlie is a wonderful character, caring and with tea for whatever ails you. Lynette’s disappearance leaves the friends with feelings that range with Lynette is deliberately hiding to scare everyone to Lynette found the Fire Cottage and her fate was already determined. The friends all bare their souls to Charlie and each of them are filled with pain for one reason or another, all leading to Lynette.
Anyone who loves cozy mysteries will love this series, I know I do.
COZY MYSTERY
COZY MYSTERY – SERIES