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| Photograph taken from http://www.goodreads.com |
Title: Tagged for Death
Author: Sherry Harris
Published: 2 December 2014
Publisher: Kensington Books
Twitter: @SHarrisAuthor
Blog/website: http://sherryharrisauthor.com/
One man’s junk is another man’s treasure
But after returning from a particularly successful day searching for yard sale treasures, Sarah finds a grisly surprise in one of her bags: a freshly bloodied shirt…that undoubtedly belongs to her ex, CJ, who now happens to be Ellington’s chief of police. If that’s not bad enough, it seems Tiffany has gone missing. Now it’s up to Sarah to prove that her cold-hearted ex is not a cold-blooded killer…
But finding that treasure can be murder.
Review
According to Sherry Harris’ website, this book is the first in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale series and I am pleased to say that I found this cozy mystery thoroughly entertaining read.
The main character, Sarah, is a former military wife who’s ex-husband is now head of the local police force. Despite her ex-husband having cheated, almost everyone has taken his side following the divorce leaving Sarah living in an area with few friends, no ties and continuing to volunteer on the base. When her love-rival goes missing and evidence points to her ex-husband, Sarah is faced with the dilemma of whether to take her problems to the local police or whether to stand behind her ex-husband and prove that he is not a cold-blooded killer.
I wasn’t sure about the beginning of the book. It seemed unlikely that the local police would be harrassing their chief’s ex-wife without good reason and without him knowing about it. I also fail to see the point of the ‘gun shot’ telephone calls and didn’t really feel that those added much to the story, although this makes a bit more sense towards the end of the book.
I thought the writing was good and there was good detail about life on the military base. These insights were interesting, although as a non-military person myself I cannot say how accurate those refernces were.
I wasn’t hugely keen on some of the supporting characters as they seemed, to me, to be quite nasty individuals. I was also not overly keen on her ex-husband, CJ. I felt he lacked backbone in not fighting for his marriage when he obviously did not want it to end. There was little indication that he had fully explained the circumstances of his indiscretion to his wife. I also found it odd that CJ did not appear to be doing a great deal of investigating into the missing girl even though all evidence pointed to him having been involved in the disappearance. Surely, as the police chief, he would be doing more to ensure that he was exonerated?
I am pleased to say that I did not guess who the killer was and that, for me, is a huge bonus in a mystery story. I like there to be an element of surprise at the end when I discover ‘who dunnit’.
I thought this was an enjoyable cozy mystery story and I’m looking forward to the next book in this series.
Rating: 3 out of 5
The book is released in electronic format and is currently priced at £2.95 on Amazon UK.
About the Author
Sherry Harris started bargain hunting in second grade at her best friend’s yard sale. She honed her bartering skills as she moved around the country while her husband served in the Air Force. Sherry combines her love of garage sales, her life as a military spouse, and her years living in Massachusetts as inspiration for the Sarah Winston Garage Sale series. Tagged for Death, first in the series, will be out in December 2014.
Sherry is a member of Sisters in Crime, Sisters in Crime New England, and the Chessie Chapter of Sisters in Crime.
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