Death in the Park (Firefly Junction Cozy Mystery #1)
Author: London Lovett
4.5 out of 5 stars
After losing her job, journalist Sunni Taylor moves to Firefly Junction to live near her sisters. While restoring the former inn she lives in and plans to turn into a bed and breakfast, Sunni is hired by the Firefly Junction newspaper. Unfortunately, her first assignment is incredibly dull. She’s writing an article about the retirement of a school janitor. But her boring article is turned upside down when the janitor is found murdered in the park, and she discovers that he was forced to retire. Sensing a great story, Sunni is determined to solve the murder before Detective Jackson does. She also has to keep an eye on the inn’s restoration, oh, and try to convince her friend, Raine, that the place isn’t haunted.
The plot was interesting and had a lot of layers. The murder is the main plot, but there are also a lot of things going on at the school. Sunni has to dig through everything to find out how it all connects. There’s also the side plot about the restoration of the inn and the ghost.
I liked the characters. Sunni is very tenacious and practical. Her sister, Emily, is a carefree baker. Her other sister, Lana, is more serious and practical, but is also a creative party planner. The sisters are very close. Detective Jackson is good at his job. He and Sunni solve the case at the same time. He isn’t too bothered by Sunni’s interference but is still against her getting involved. The side characters added lots of humor to the story. Raine is friends with the sisters and claims to be psychic. She tended to talk about things in a way that was funny. And Sunni’s contractors are a brother-sister pair who are always bickering.
Overall, the writing is good. There are a lot of very long and detailed descriptions, which I liked but others might not. Some scenes did drag on a bit, but the only time it really annoyed me was when Sunni was trying to sneak out of the school to avoid detective Jackson and kept getting distracted. She was finding information, but some parts of it still could have been sped up.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The way some scenes dragged on a bit too much is why I’m rating it 4.5 out of 5 stars. This is a good one to read if you’re looking for a longer paranormal mystery series to get into since it’s the first of 19 books.
Current price through Amazon Kindle: $4.99
Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078YGG1B7
(I do not benefit from the use of this link.)