Death Rides Again (Jocelyn Shore Mysteries)
Texas teacher Jocelyn Shore knows that spending Thanksgiving with relatives can drive a person to murder, but she never thought her uncle Kel would really shoot someone. Although, after seeing what Eddy Cranny did to Kel’s daughter, Ruby June, anyone could understand why her uncle would want to point a gun at his son-in-law. Fortunately, Jocelyn and her aunt manage to get Eddy out of the house before any actual bullets fly, but when Ruby June disappears later that day, everyone at the ranch is positive Eddy had something to do with it. Until Eddy’s body turns up in an abandoned junk pit. Jocelyn, along with her cousin Kyla, once again finds herself playing amateur detective in the third amusing installment in Hamrick’s award-winning series (Death on Tour, 2011; Death Makes the Cut, 2012). With its entertaining blend of realistically quirky characters, tartly humorous writing, and generous dash of romance, Hamrick’s mysteries are tailor-made for readers of other cozy comic crime series such as Donna Andrews’ Meg Langslow mysteries or Sharyn McCrumb’s Elizabeth MacPherson books. --John Charles