Review: Entertaining "cozy" mystery set in Maine - - 3.5 stars...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 7, 2012
After three decades of teaching High School English, Jesse Ashworth decides to take early retirement and move back to his hometown of Bath, Maine.  His longtime friend and colleague, Rhonda Shepard, had moved to Bath a year earlier and opened a gift shop.  Business is good and Jesse divides his time between helping Rhonda at the shop, getting settled in to his new home, spending "quality" time with his pug, Argus, and becoming reacquainted with people he knew back in High School.  After some initial trepidation, Jesse finds that retirement suits him just fine.Just as Jesse is settling into a comfortable routine, he makes a grizzly discovery in his back yard:  the skeletal remains of a young woman who died under suspicious circumstances.  The upside?  Jesse gets to work closely with the very attractive Chief of Police, Tim Mallory.  The downside?  It doesn't take long for Jesse to come to the conclusion that someone he knows is a murderer, and that "someone" may just have it in for Jesse himself.This is definitely a "cozy" mystery, with the mystery part of the storyline taking a backseat to the characters themselves and the domestic details.  Here's what I look for in a "cozy":  (1)  An interesting and unique protagonist; someone I can relate to.  (2)  A strong sense of place.  I want to really get a feel for the setting; I want the location to come alive for me.  (3)  While I'm willing to give "cozy" writers a lot of leeway when it comes to the mystery itself, I expect it to be at least respectably plausible.  I'm happy to say that this story had a lot of what I enjoy reading in a "cozy" mystery.Jesse's first person narrative really worked.  He's observant and witty with a little snark thrown in for good measure.  I know this area of Maine quite well and I love it, so I really enjoyed the way the author worked "real life" details into his fictional story.  In fact, I have a craving for one of Amato's Italian sandwiches - Thanks a lot Mr. Stanley, there goes the diet!  Seriously, if you are familiar with Bath then you'll appreciate the details and if you're not you'll want to go there and see it for yourself.  I also really liked the  way the over 50 crowd was well represented, and (Thank You God)  not portrayed as old geezers lucky to be standing on the right side of the grass.  Nope, Jesse and company are attractive, interesting and relevant.Still, I did waffle between a 3 and 4 star rating, settling on a 3.5 (rounded up to 4 for Amazon).  While I enjoyed this very much, there's no getting around the fact that there were numerous "typos" - missing words, misspellings, etc - that required a bit of mental editing on my part as I was reading.  Maybe not a big deal, but anytime you are pulled out of a story -especially a Mystery - it's not a good thing.  There were a few places where the dialog could have flowed more naturally but overall I enjoyed this and plan on reading the next installment.Bottom Line:  A solid "cozy" mystery with good characterization and plenty of authentic atmosphere.  The mystery is serviceable, but if you're looking for plot holes, you will find them.  There are editing issues.  There is occasional strong language and while there is no sexual content, a same sex romance is depicted.  If that bothers you then this probably isn't the book for you.Book One:A Midcoast MurderBook Two:Murder in the Choir Room (A Jesse Ashworth Mystery)Book Three:The Big Boys' Detective Agency