Snow Place for Murder is the third in the series set at Misty Murphy's Mountaintop Lodge. I have the previous two and I do think it's a series best read in order to get to know the characters better. The mystery is self-contained though, and the author does a good job re-introducing the regulars, as well as adding new characters.
Misty's lodge is hosting resort developer, Nigel Goodwin, and his guests, all potential investors, for a week between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Misty is happy with the business, but leery about the planned resort. When Nigel is found dead, Misty fears that someone in her lodge is a murderer or maybe one of the townspeople. She, of course, sets out to help the cops find the killer.
The story moves along at a good pace and we have a nice mix of well-rounded characters. There is enough humor mixed in to keep things light. I even enjoyed Misty's cat's chapters. Yeti definitely has...
I like the basic setup here. Misty owns the Mountaintop Lodge and is hosting a group of women motorcyclists for the week. And one of the bikers ends up dead, killed while they were out on a ride.
Misty is naturally observant and working around the lodge gives her the perfect opportunity to talk to the women and get a peek inside their rooms. I like Misty in a lot of ways. She's nice, relatable, and does a good job of sharing information with the police. I also like her relationship with her handyman, Rocky, but I don't like her "should I / what if?"s. She's a decisive, confident woman- otherwise she wouldn't own the lodge. I also don't understand, for someone who has never ridden a motorcycle, how she knows every make and model of the women's bikes as they pull into the lot. She also jumps to conclusions quickly. She's willing to admit when she's wrong and maybe it's...
I like when I get to start a series at the beginning. Our amateur sleuth in Getaway with Murder is Misty Murphy, the new owner of the Mountaintop Lodge. Our murder victim is of course one of her guests.
Things I liked about Getaway with Murder:
Our main character is 50, with plenty of life experience. Also, her love interest is a couple of years younger than her and not involved in law enforcement.The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina is a wonderful setting.The secondary, probably returning, characters are a slightly quirky bunch who will be fun to spend time with.The plot was well-done. The clues were there if you caught them, but also plenty of red herrings. And there were a few reasonable suspects in the circle.
Things I didn't like:
A few chapters were from the cat's point of view, which I wasn't expecting based on the blurb. I like pets in cozies, but don't really need their thoughts or opinions. While...
