A Watery Death
By Joyce and Jim Lavene
A Missing Pieces Mystery
7th in Series
Cozy Mystery
Synopsis:
By Joyce and Jim Lavene
A Missing Pieces Mystery
7th in Series
Cozy Mystery
Synopsis:
It’s the Fourth of July weekend in Duck, North Carolina and twenty-thousand visitors are on hand to enjoy the parade, the festivities – and learn about the murder of Captain Bill Lucky.
Lucky is the captain of the new gambling ship, Andalusia II, which is modeled after the famous ghost ship that haunts the small town on the Outer Banks. Like her predecessor, the Spanish treasure ship replica has been a boon to the hardy residents of Duck, but it has proven unlucky for her captain.
Mayor Dae O’Donnell has her hands full with setting up the parade set, convincing her friend, Trudy, that she shouldn’t call off her wedding, and getting her shop, Missing Pieces, ready for the summer when she makes most of her money for the year. She doesn’t need the problems involved with a local murder.
But Captain Lucky involves Dae when he asks her to buy an artifact from him that is supposed to be able to summon mermaids. He says he needs money to get out of town for a few days until some problems are resolved. Dae is glad to help him, but isn’t prepared to find him dead in his quarters on the Andalusia when she returns the keys he dropped at her shop.
It isn’t the first time that mermaids and mermen have been seen in Duck, but it’s the first time one of them has been accused of murder. While her grandfather and her fiancé, Kevin, struggle to believe such a thing is possible, Dae is left trying to prove her new friends are innocent.
Interview:
We decide at least a year before which book is coming out next. A lot depends on what book we want to work on and when we think would be a good time to have it out on the market.
In the last Missing Pieces mystery we saw some Ren Faire Mystery characters crossing over. Do you have any plans for more crossovers between other series?
Absolutely! We LOVE crossovers. Peggy Lee is guest starring in June’s Missing Pieces book, A Watery Death and in the first book of our new series, Pumpkin Patch Mysteries which begins in august with Give ‘em Pumpkin to Talk About. We’d like to do a mash up of several different characters from our books in a single book. That sounds like fun! Maybe Peggy Lee, Dae O’Donnell, and Mary Catherine Roberts solving a mystery together. Hmm.
Do you have a favorite book that you’ve written?
No. We love all our characters and wouldn’t want them to think we favor one over another.
Where do you get your inspiration for your books?
EVERYWHERE! We go down the street coming up with two or three ideas every time we go out. Sometimes they stick and we end up writing them – other times not so much and we forget about them.
If the Missing Pieces series were adapted for TV or films who would you want in the cast?
What a great question! Let’s see – a younger version of Meg Ryan to play Mayor Dae O’Donnell. Ed Asner to play Gramps. Much younger Kevin Costner to play Steve.
What’s next for you?
We are working on a few new series that will be released later this year. Pumpkin Patch, of course, and a new paranormal series titled The Purple Door Detective Agency which will be out in September. In October, the second witches book comes out, Looking for Mr. Good Witch. November we’re starting a new Christmas mystery series. December is the new Biscuit Bowl, Fat Tuesday Fricassee. And January is the fourth Sweet pepper book, Sweet Pepper Hero. We like to stay busy!
Thanks for having us here today!
Review: I've said it many times and I'm sure I'll say it again, Joyce and Jim Lavene are masters when it comes to the cozy mystery.
The Missing Pieces series combines the small town cozy with time travel and some mythical creatures and a crossover from another one of their series. (In this case it is Peggy Lee, her husband, Steve and their dog, Shakespeare.
This is the 7th book in the series, but it can easily be read as a stand alone. I love Dae, and her ability to touch things and find out who they belong to and sometimes even travel in time.
This book revolves around the death of the gambling ship's captain and the sea people/ mermaids/mermen. The existence of these water people really get things hopping in Duck. There are more people in the town that have had encounters and some people that want to profit on them. The existence of Tovi and Lilly even cause some friction between Dae and Kevin.
Along with the mermaids and the murder there's some closure for one of the story lines involving Dae's grandmother just might have come to a close. I won't say how, because that would be a huge spoiler, but it is definitely one that affects the heart strings.
This was an excellent read and quite emotional for a cozy, especially as you get to know about the sea people and their interactions in the past with Duck residents.
I highly recommend this book and any book written by Joyce and Jim!
Rating: 5 flowers
About The Authors
Joyce and Jim Lavene write award-winning, bestselling mystery fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook, and Ellie Grant. They have written and published more than 70 novels for Harlequin, Berkley, Amazon, and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications. They live in rural North Carolina with their family.
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