Killer In The Band (A Lovers in Crime Mystery #3) by Lauren Carr
Published in America by Acorn Book Services in September 2016.
K for my 2019 Alphabet Soup Challenge and a Book With A Vegan Character
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It's a Summer of Love & Murder!
Joshua’s eldest son, Joshua Thornton Jr. (J.J.) has graduated at the top of his class from law school and returns home to spend the summer studying for the bar exam. However, to Joshua's and Cameron's shock and dismay, J.J. moves into the main house at Russell Ridge Farm and Orchards, the largest dairy farm in the Ohio Valley, in order to rekindle a romance with Suellen Russell, the one-time leader of a rock band, who is twice his age. Quickly, they learn that she has a deep dark secret.
The move brings long buried tensions between the father and son to the surface—not the least of which being J.J.'s inexplicable dislike for his stepmother Cameron. But when a brutal killer strikes, the Lovers in Crime must set all differences with Joshua's son aside to solve the crime before J.J. ends up in the cross-hairs of a murderer.
Killer In The Band is the third in Lauren Carr's Lovers In Crime series. In this story we see Cameron and Joshua investigating crimes from 1988, 1998 and the present day. I liked the cultural references to the earlier times, especially distinctive late-1980s fashion choices and hairstyles - most of which sound pretty atrocious now! There's a nod to the first Lover's In Crime novel, Dead On Ice, with the first body here also being discovered in a freezer although this time it's in a disused psychiatric hospital and lack of information results in the gruesome discovery becoming a cold case (an intended pun?). I initially thought Lauren would have her characters spend a lot of time in such a dark setting, but she doesn't overdo the obvious and instead we are swept into the present day.
Killer In The Band felt like a faster paced story than Real Murder. (which I'll be reviewing here soon. I am reading the books in the right order even though my blog posts indicate otherwise!) There are still a lot of characters, but I kept a better handle on them all this time. I did wonder though if I had forgotten characters such as Suellen and Clyde from a previous novel. It seemed as though I was expected to have already met them although I didn't recall having done so. This didn't impact on the narrative however and I enjoyed the horsey setting of Suellen's farm. For me Killer In The Band had quite a classic crime vibe to it. Amateur characters including Joshua's son and a blogger get deeply involved in the investigation and Cameron's gathering together of all the suspects for the denouement felt very Agatha Christie! The storylines tie in nicely together and I was satisfied with their conclusions.
Meet the author:
Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, crime fiction, police procedurals, romance, and humor.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, and two spoiled rotten German shepherds on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
Connect with the author:
Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram
Enter the Giveaway!
One winner will receive a $50 Amazon Gift Card
Open internationally across the Lovers In Crime blog tour posts until November 1st, 2019
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Etsy Find!
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by Art By Shano in
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Books by Lauren Carr / Crime fiction / Books from America
Thank you very much for the fabulous review of KILLER IN THE BAND. I am certain your followers will enjoy this classic feel mystery as well. Here's wishing each one luck in the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThank you Lauren :-)
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