Christy Fifield

I'm vacillating between 3.5 and 4 stars on this book.

Glory owns a vintage/souvenir shop in a North Florida beach town, left to her by her uncle. The shop comes with a cantankerous parrot named Blackbeard, who is sometimes the embodiment of her uncle's ghost, and if the author let him, he'd steal this show. Since the author keeps his character(s) in check, we are fortunate that the rest of the characters are likeable enough to keep a reader reading. Glory has a tight circle of friends and show more one annoying cousin, who thankfully makes infrequent appearances.

The author's bio says she lives in Oregon, so she either does her research, or she's lived at some point in the past in Florida. As a Floridian, I felt right at home in Keyhole Bay; she even wrote some of the less friendlier aspects of the old-timers-vs.-tourists distinction with accuracy.

The reason I debate between 3.5 and 4 stars was the plot. It's a good story, but this is one of those mysteries where the author doesn't give the reader any clues. I didn't actually mind because I was enjoying the story, but some readers find this leaves them feeling cheated.

In retrospect, I suppose there was one clue given, at the same time that the murderer made their one and only appearance in the entire book before the climactic scene.

The final scene, by cozy standards, is somewhat graphic and quite detailed. It's not a typical cozy finale. If your imagination is detailed and you don't like blood, you might want to skim over this. I didn't struggle with it, but it certainly left an impression.

I'm enjoying the character evolution in this series, and the mysteries are interesting enough that I'll gladly look forward to the next book. show less

First Line: "No, Peter. It is not a good idea."

If only her interfering cousin Peter were the only fly in Glory Martine's ointment. Orphaned at the age of seventeen, Glory and Peter are joint inheritors of their uncle's souvenir shop in Keyhole Bay, Florida. Living in Alabama, Peter believes he's the "idea man" even though he hasn't got a clue about retail, or Southern Treasures, the souvenir shop stuffed with collectibles and mementoes of bygone days that Glory runs.

But Peter isn't the only show more problem. Bluebeard, a cantankerous parrot that Glory also inherited from her uncle, has been trashing the shop at every opportunity, and she's in a quandary. She's beginning to think that the shop is haunted by the ghost of her dead uncle, but she's too afraid that her friends will think she's nuts if she shares her concerns with them.

Then the local football hero dies in what everyone believes is a tragic accident involving a popular teenager who combined drinking with driving. When the talkative Bluebeard keeps insisting "It wasn't an accident!" Glory shares her worries with her best friend-- and her best friend takes it seriously. Now... how does Glory go about proving young Kevin Stanley's death wasn't an accident without spilling the beans about her resident ghost?

Being a fan of the Georgiana Neverall series written by this author (under the name Christy Evans), I looked forward to this start of a new series. I wasn't disappointed. Murder Buys a T-Shirt is a low-key, light and fun read. The setting of a small town in the Florida panhandle that depends on tourism hits all the right notes, and the characters are a quirky bunch that can sustain a series over several books. Just enough is revealed about Glory's uncle to make me want to know more, and the paranormal angle is deftly handled. In fact, a scene with Glory and Bluebeard toward the end of the book brought a tear to my eye.

If you're in the mood for some light-hearted fun that leaves you wanting more, I suggest you give this first book in the Haunted Souvenir Shop series a try! show less

MURDER BUYS A T-SHIRT is a very enjoyable start to a new paranormal cozy mystery series. What pulled me in first was the setting. Glory Martine runs a souvenir shop in the sunny town of Keyhole Bay, Florida. Her store brought back memories of my yearly trips to the Florida Panhandle as a child, though Glory’s Southern Treasures sounds nicer than the trinket shops I remember. She inherited the store and a cantankerous talking parrot named Bluebeard from her great uncle. The parrot was show more hilarious – with a mouth like a sailor. (Though, there’s no actual foul language in the book. Bluebeard’s cursing is written as “#^$&*&.”)

After Keyhole Bay’s top high school football player dies in a car crash, Glory suspects that Bluebeard is trying to tell her that it was no accident, and his squawk sounds very similar to her Uncle Louis who died decades ago. It seems like his ghost is haunting the souvenir shop and speaking to her through a bird! With the police convinced Kevin Stanley’s death was an accident, and his own fault at that, Glory decided to do a little investigating of her own.

I enjoyed the mystery and finding out about the possible suspects. I did feel like there were holes in the plot, with one major element of the mystery that was never wrapped up. Because it was specifically about Kevin Stanley’s death, I don’t see how it would carry over to the next book, but maybe it does.

For me, the characters in this book stole the show. Glory and her group of friends were realistic and likable. There’s Karen, Glory’s best friend and a reporter/radio personality at WBBY; Ernie and Felipe, the fun couple who owns the local antiques shop; and, of course, there’s the quirky parrot Bluebeard. We’re also introduced to Jake, the cute owner of Beach Books. He’s the new boy in town, but there’s already a romantic spark between him and Glory.

MURDER BUYS A T-SHIRT is a delightful cozy mystery, and I will definitely be reading more of the series. Yummy recipes of traditional Southern dishes are also included.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. show less

This one was a bit of an odd duck: there's a murder mystery, but the MC, Glory, doesn't investigate, there aren't any clues, and there aren't any suspects beyond the two who are falsely accused. Glory finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time once or twice but it's never used to further the solution to who killed the two men. Even the last "action-packed" scene didn't solve the mystery; that comes in the aftermath.

Most of the story was taken up with Karen's wedding, Sly's long-lost show more love, and Glory's efforts to build her business. We get a lot more Bluebeard, too, which is long overdue.

I enjoyed this diversion from the typical cozy formula; it probably wouldn't work all the time, but I thought it was a nice change of pace and watching Glory tie up some of the more irritating loose ends of her life gave a sense of satisfaction that would have made up for the lack of amateur sleuthing, had I felt any such lack.

A good cozy. Bring on more Bluebeard! show less