Review: Dressed to Kill [A Tourist Trap Mystery, book 04]

Title:   Dressed to Kill [A Tourist Trap Mystery, book 04]
Author:   Lynn Cahoon
Rating:   ★★★★

I feel a little rusty as I haven't written a review in a long time. Work has been crazy, and for the past three weeks I've been arranging a two-week vacation for my family -- to a destination I haven't been to before! (Shoutout to McLexxie for patiently answering all my vacation questions!)

But in between breaths, I got caught up in Dressed to Kill by Lynn Cahoon. This is actually the fourth book in A Tourist Trap Mystery, but this is the first one I've read. This felt like it could be a standalone since it wasn't hard to get to know the characters.

Jill Gardner—owner of Coffee, Books, and More in the tucked-away town of South Cove, California—is not particularly thrilled to be portraying a twenties flapper for the dinner theater murder mystery. Though it is for charity…

Of course everyone is expecting a “dead” body at the dress rehearsal…but this one isn’t acting! It turns out the main suspect is the late actor’s conniving girlfriend Sherry…who also happens to be the ex-wife of Jill’s main squeeze. Sherry is definitely a master manipulator…but is she a killer? Jill may discover the truth only when the curtain comes up on the final act…and by then, it may be far too late.

If there's one word to describe Dressed to Kill, it's that it's cozy. It was a book that made me curl up in the sofa and, even though there's a murder to solve, I liked the vibe of the town. Jill was a person I could have been friends with in real life! The book was so easy to read, it made me pause in between my reading of Les Miserables (our book club's choice for the month).

There were clues dropped along the way, but I was only able to solve it right before the revelation of the culprit. I feel like some sub-plot twists could be better discussed, or that the culprit's reasoning was better explained, but all in all, it was a satisfying ending. It didn't feel like the culprit came out of nowhere.

If you're looking for a breezy and cozy mystery, Dressed to Kill is a good choice. :)

Cheers,