In the Dead of Winter: Ivy Towers Mystery Series #1
Reviewing a cozy mystery is a new experience for me, but I became an immediate fan of the genre. Nancy Mehl weaves her cozy spell so skillfully that I was enthralled from page one. Ivy Towers is an appealing heroine, Winter Break, Kansas the ideal location, and supporting characters lend depth to the delicious plot.Ivy Towers holds fond childhood memories of Winter Break and her Great Aunt Bitty. Ivy's parents are missionaries to China. Bitty nurtured the girl in her parents' absence. Many happy, comfortable times were spent in Miss Bitty's Bygone Bookstore. Now Bitty has died, leaving everything she owns to Ivy, including the book store. Winter Break is a tiny Kansas town where winter comes early and leaves late. The book store never changes. Outside a wintry wind blows sleet and snow against the windows, but inside Bitty's store Ivy finds a familiar sanctuary: the scent of lemon oil and smell of old books, a warming fire crackling in the fireplace, the old grandfather clock, and a purring cat. Cozy. Safe. Comforting. Ivy knows Aunt Bitty considered death to be a "home-going" and not a loss, but the truth is immediately apparent and troubling. Bitty's death was not the accident it seemed at first, and someone helped Ivy's aunt get to heaven prematurely. The small town book store owner and doting aunt was an expert in rare books and had clients all around the world. Did someone kill Bitty to possess a rare book? Or is the cause of death more sinister than that?Mehl scatters tantalizing hints and red herrings throughout the story for readers to unravel. Did one of the colorful locals murder Bitty? Maybe the kindly owner of the Food-a-Rama didn't love Bitty as much as he pretends. Did her hired assistant weary of his labors and do Bitty in out of spite? And why is Amos Parker, Ivy's childhood friend turned deputy sheriff, so insistent that she leave town immediately? I can almost guarantee readers won't solve the mystery before Ivy does. If you love mysteries -- cozy, Christian, or otherwise -- you won't want to miss even one of the Ivy Towers books. Nancy Mehl's writing style is exceptional and her books highly recommended.Review by Laurel Johnson forMidwest Book Review