Disclosure. This post is a review of an ebook I was sent for free. All opinions are my own.
I have received a free e-copy of the book Bowled Over Americano by bestselling author Carolyn Arnold to review. To find out more about the author you may visit her website.
Here is the book blurb.
Sara Cain isn’t your typical thirty-two-year-old woman. Murder detective by day, writer and… sleuth by night? Just as long as there’s enough coffee to keep her going…
When her first novel gives her trouble, Sara goes for a walk to clear her writer’s block and ends up stumbling right into a real-life murder mystery. Magnum, an adventurous beagle, comes running off leash toward her in the local park, and she returns him home only to find his master dead on the entry floor.
Cliff Cunningham was a championship bowler with a mean streak and a temper, and police are pegging his Golden Pin bowling trophy as the murder weapon. While any number of people could have clocked a strike by knocking him on the noggin, the prime suspect is a friend of Sara’s mother—and she expects Sara to prove the woman’s innocence. A tall order, as the case isn’t officially hers and belongs to a rival detective.
But a promise is a promise, and Sara soon finds herself sleuthing undercover—and off the clock—in a world of polyester shirts and rental shoes. It’s not all bad, though, as she’s taking her friend and partner Sean McKinley along for the ride. They are better together than they’ve ever been split, and they’re not amateurs at finding killers.
Despite being up against small-town hijinks and colorful characters who threaten to roll their efforts into the gutter, they are having fun. That is, until they get close to the killer and a dangerous twist puts their lives at risk.
This is the first title in the Sara and Sean Cozy Mystery Series, but as soon as I started reading it, I knew I had already met and loved Sara and Sean in Exercise is Murder, a McKinley Mystery. I’ve now discovered that the McKinley Mysteries were unpublished last year, in order to be expanded into full-length novels. However I hadn’t read the original that this one is based on, so all new and fresh to me.
The story begins with Sara, a detective rescuing a lost dog in the park, but when she returns him home, she finds his owner Cliff Cunningham murdered. Certainly an opening to get the reader hooked.
She ends up having to take Magnum the dog home with her, but sneaking him into the police station for work the next day doesn’t go down well with the Sergeant. What will she do with Magnum?
Sara and partner Sean aren’t assigned to the Cunningham case, but when her mum calls to ask for help because her friend Gladys has been arrested for the murder of Cliff Cunningham, she and Sean set about some moonlighting on the case.
Can they do a better job at it than Detective Davenport? Is Gladys innocent?
Have a laugh at the antics of how they deal with Magnum.
The author has done a great job at filling in the back story for this, the start of a series, which is interwoven into this tale. And a fab twist at the end.
Most of Carolyn Arnold’s other series are dark psychological thrillers. Yes this is still murder, but a much more light-hearted fun mystery style.
Bowled Over Americano is available on Amazon. A highly recommended whodunnit style mystery, that will leave you looking forward to reading more Sara and Sean tales.
About the author
Carolyn Arnold was born in a small Canadian town and enjoys spending time outdoors, but she also loves the lights of a big city. Grounded by her roots and lifted by her dreams, her overactive imagination insists that she tell her stories. Her intention is to touch the hearts of millions with her books, to entertain, inspire, and empower. As an international bestselling and award-winning author, she has several continuing fiction series, including her popular Detective Madison Knight series. She offers readers nearly three dozen published books in genres ranging from crime thrillers and hard-boiled mysteries to cozy mysteries and action adventures. She currently lives north of London, Ontario, with her husband and two beagles.
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