Tara Lush

A fun and quick read. It's a hybrid mystery/romance novel, the romance having a "happy for now" ending, to be further developed in the next book.

The mystery of who killed the rival gator trapper, and why, is satisfyingly plotted and revealed.

It's got all the Florida headline elements: corrupt politicians, over-development, weirdos doing weird things, and reptiles in places you really don't want them. Plus oranges in the backyard, shorts (no shirt!) in January, and gator facts. As a lifelong show more Floridian myself, I smiled at the descriptions of the housing developments and other outdoors.

But I also started feeling a bit defensive that small-town or rural people are always being derided as methheads, weirdos, "Florida man". And the town of Wahoo sounds too small for both a Target and a Home Depot. It should have a Walmart Super Center and a Winn-Dixie. Maybe a Publix, considering the way the town is trying to be upscale for the people in all those new houses. This is really nitpicky of me, I realize that! But the constant references to the weirdos of headlines and viral videos had me grumbly and defensive and definitely nitpicky. (I also noticed that sunshine can't be mentioned without the modifier 'Florida'. And the humidity isn't that bad in January, even if it is warm.)

I'll probably read the follow-up, but I'm not in a hurry for it. The cozy mystery isn't my usual genre, though it was a fun change of pace. show less

The Perkatory crew returns to solve the murder of a cantankerous local activist.

A Bean to Die For is the fourth book in author Tara Lush’s fabulous and fun cozy Coffee Lover’s Mystery series, and what a delightful return it is to the sand and sun of the close-knit Devil’s Beach, Florida community. With its engaging ensemble of recurring characters, suspicious death, and tantalizing Gulf Coast setting, this is a perfect bookish escape from the current wintry weather.

The main character, show more Lana Lewis, has a lot going on as usual, but life has somewhat settled down since the events of the previous books. Her relationship with Noah Garcia, Devil’s Beach’s chief of police, is progressing nicely and is about to take a big step forward. Noah’s mother and sister are arriving on the island at the end of the week, and he’s introducing them to Lana. However, Lana is stressing to impress as she plans to prepare her specialty, lasagna, for dinner at her home on Saturday night, especially when she finds herself, once again, embroiled in a murder case.

Lana is the first to discover the body of local activist Jack Daggitt, a man with plenty of people who have a bone to pick with him, and Noah doesn’t want her anywhere near this investigation. She’s more than ready and willing to comply until a regular customer becomes a prime suspect and asks for her help in proving her innocence. However, Lana’s desire to help wins out, and soon, she and Erica are hip-deep in suspects. I loved Erica and Peter’s enthusiasm for tackling this new case and how they tried to keep things on the hush-hush and Lana out of dutch with Noah. But Lana was really more twisted up over putting her best foot forward for Noah’s family, initially, than the potential danger involved in tracking down a killer. The three do a great job of identifying possible suspects and working to cross them off their list, yet the discovery of the perpetrator comes as a surprise after all. The author has an absolute gift for creating fresh and fun dialogue, making reading a joy. And while this is the fourth book in the series, newcomers shouldn’t have any trouble getting into and enjoying the story. The author also does a great job referring to past investigations without giving everything away, so readers who will want to read the previous books won’t have had those stories spoiled.

I recommend A BEAN TO DIE FOR to cozy mystery readers, especially those who enjoy coffee, Florida settings, and fans of the previous novels.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours. show less

Oh how I wish Devil’s Beach and it’s quirky residents were a real place I could visit! You’ve got the fired journalist licking her wounds at home while running Perkatory, one of the two coffee shops in town for her yogi father who is finding himself via medical marijuana and silent retreats. Her new free spirit assistant and her spunky sidekick, puppy Stanley. When her Fabio-ish former barista takes a head dive from the top floor of the coffee shops building Lana can’t resist show more sticking her nose into the case. Sheriff Hunk, aka Noah the non coffee drinker, has his hands full with the case and tourist-monkey business, literally. I can’t wait to see what the future holds in the hottest place in the south! show less

Tell Me a Story is the first episode in a five part serial. It's been awhile since I've wanted to read a serial novel, and I'm glad I did. This one's only five installments, and each are a reasonable length. Both are a plus. Along with them all being released at the time I discovered them helped even more.

Like most serials, there wasn't too much character development in the grand scheme of things here. This aides in my wanting to continue onto the next episodes. There was just enough to get show more into Emma's head and start to enjoy her. On the other hand Caleb is still very mysterious and has most to reveal later on. I'm still on the fence about him, as I'm sure the reader should be.

As for the story itself, I'm even more intrigued after reading it than I was starting. The story brothel event at Emma's bookstore was a fun idea. I really like how that's worked into the story outside the bookstore, too. I also thought it was great that the author didn't make the bookstore life out to be glamorous, as I've seen done elsewhere. Emma's facing real-world problems as a business owner and there are big consequences. Lush was able to bring a lot out in episode one, even if a few elements may have hurt because of this. That's what the rest of the serial is for, after all.

I'm looking forward to reading more about Emma and Caleb. I'm also crossing my fingers a certain other set of characters gets their own story in the future. show less