Death Rides Again

April 29, 2013
The shotgun murder of unpleasant Eddy Cranny spoils the Shore family reunion at the Smoky Quartz ranch in Hamrick’s entertaining third cozy featuring Austin, Tex., teacher Jocelyn Shore (after 2012’s Death Makes the Cut). It’s hard for the clan to mourn Eddy, though Jocelyn is concerned when no one can find her cousin Ruby June, the victim’s wife. That Ruby June’s father, Kel Shore, had been threatening to do serious bodily harm to Eddy makes him a suspect. Meanwhile, the authorities have accused Herman Shore, the 95-year-old family patriarch, of ordering Kel to shoot a jockey at a race with a big purse—a reasonable accusation since the horse’s owner is in a land dispute with Kel. Jocelyn suspects that Carl Cress, Kel’s sleazy business partner, shot the jockey, until she and another cousin, Kyla, discover that Carl may have a good alibi. Cozy fans will enjoy Jocelyn’s quirky family and the wide array of criminal activities. Agent: David Hale Smith, Inkwell Management.

May 1, 2013
Only murder can top a large family gathering for Thanksgiving. Divorced schoolteacher Jocelyn Shore has traveled from Austin to the family ranch for a down-home holiday. Her uncle Kel, who runs the ranch for his elderly uncle Herman, goes ballistic when he sees his daughter Ruby June with a black eye. Kel threatens his son-in-law Eddy with a shotgun, but that's just the start of trouble. Jocelyn's boyfriend, homicide detective Colin Gallagher, is staying in a nearby motel hoping that Jocelyn will join him even though she still has feelings for another man who's trying to reignite their romance. Jocelyn's cousin Kyla, her sometime partner in sleuthing, has fascinated T.J. Knoller, Kel's next-door neighbor, who runs a hunting lodge complete with exotic animals and owns a racehorse set to win a big purse at the local fairgrounds. Even though T.J. is suing Uncle Kel over some disputed land, Kyla stubbornly continues to enjoy his company. When Eddy's found shot to death on a remote part of Kel's ranch, Kel is the No. 1 suspect even though Ruby June has vanished. Jocelyn saw Eddy in an argument with a questionable local contractor whose horse is the main competition for T.J.'s. Somehow, Uncle Herman ends up owning the horse, which handily wins the race when T.J.'s jockey is shot out of the saddle. Jocelyn is willing to take dangerous chances to prove Kel innocent, including taking a chance on love. Jocelyn's third adventure (Death Makes the Cut, 2012, etc.) is a charming combination of humor and romance with a nice little mystery.

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May 1, 2013
Texas teacher Jocelyn Shore knows that spending Thanksgiving with relatives can drive a person to murder, but she never thought her uncle Kel would really shoot someone. Although, after seeing what Eddy Cranny did to Kel's daughter, Ruby June, anyone could understand why her uncle would want to point a gun at his son-in-law. Fortunately, Jocelyn and her aunt manage to get Eddy out of the house before any actual bullets fly, but when Ruby June disappears later that day, everyone at the ranch is positive Eddy had something to do with it. Until Eddy's body turns up in an abandoned junk pit. Jocelyn, along with her cousin Kyla, once again finds herself playing amateur detective in the third amusing installment in Hamrick's award-winning series (Death on Tour, 2011; Death Makes the Cut, 2012). With its entertaining blend of realistically quirky characters, tartly humorous writing, and generous dash of romance, Hamrick's mysteries are tailor-made for readers of other cozy comic crime series such as Donna Andrews' Meg Langslow mysteries or Sharyn McCrumb's Elizabeth MacPherson books.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)