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A Call for Kelp: 03/09/24
A Call for Kelp by Bree Baker and Thérèse Plummer (Narrator) (2020) is the fourth book in the Seaside Cafe mystery series. Filming is beginning on Everly's aunt's beekeeping documentary. A famous actor has come out of retirement to host the film and she has ties to Everly's grandmother. Unfortunately before the two women can have that well needed and wanted talk, she's murdered. By the end of chapter one, which concludes with the discovery of Mitzi Calgon's body, I was already annoyed at this mystery. Don't make grandiose proclamations of family secrets only to kill of the person who knows them before she can dish. The rest of the book didn't fare well either. There's the on-going love triangle of Everly's ex-rodeo-boyfriend turning a new leaf and Everly's current almost boyfriend who has too much complicated family business to make a commitment. Beyond Grady's own refusal to say much more than how nice it is that his son is bonding with Everly, there's his ex-mother-in-law, the senator and her ripped from NCIS arc plot. The senator, though, isn't where things end with Grady and his mess. Nope. Now the senator's CIA husband has appeared on scene. So now there's extra time wasted on security details and machinations and other stupid stuff that has no immediate bearing on the actual mystery. The final misstep is the murderer revealing themselves. Everly was so preoccupied with ex-cowboy Wyatt and current sheriff Grady that she has barely scratched the surface in her investigation of Mitzi Calgon's murder. Despite that, the murderer threatens her life, murders a super fan, and ultimately reveals themself to her. Had the murderer just kept quiet they could have just gone home when the investigation had run dry. The next book is Closely Harbored Secrets (2020) Three stars Comments (0) |