Review – Death on a Deadline

Barbour has launched a new subscription book service called Heartsong Presents Mysteries that is worth every penny of the subscription. Four cozy mysteries are mailed directly to your home every six weeks and the postage is included in the low subscription price of $13.99. I might sound like an infomercial, but this is one deal that ISN’T too good to be true.

I have had the pleasure of reading only a few titles, but the three I have read are winners. Death On A Deadline is the first of the mysteries I cracked open, and I found it so enjoyable, I moved right on to the next one. But first, let me tell you about Death On A Deadline.

The story opens with ex-Olympic swimming hopeful, Jenna Stafford, living in her hometown of Lake View and managing the Lake View Athletic Club. We first see Jenna chasing down a stray dog carrying a wallet that she thinks might be one she misplaced. Turns out, the wallet has far more significance than Jenna could imagine. That very day, the owner of the wallet, Hank Templeton the local newspaper editor is found murdered.

Jenna, involuntarily involved in the crime from her soggy discovery, is shocked and down right angry when she learns her nephew, Zac is the prime suspect. So Jenna does what any aunt worth beans would do, she sets out to find the killer. Along the way, she convinces her sister Carly to join in the hunt. Together, they make the pursuit of the killer fun and entertaining as only a pair of sisters could do.

Though there are a lot of great twists to the story, I won’t spoil any more of it for you, but I will tell you if you pick up the book you won’t want to put it down until you finish it. Death On A Deadline, authored by Christine Lynxwiler, Jan Reynolds, & Sandy Gaskin is warm, witty, and at times funny as a cozy mystery should be. And with a Heartsong title you’re sure to find romance. Death On A Deadline has a splendid one. The mystery is well written in a wonderful voice keeping you turning the pages. You’ll find the characters are warm and genuine, just as you would imagine the residents of Lake View would be and the relationship between the sisters as enjoyable as the mystery.