Review: Cover Story by Erika Chase

Blurb: Murder is nothing novel for the Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straws Society—but this time the police want to throw the book at one of their own…

It’s time to celebrate when club member Molly Mathews’s childhood friend, Teensy Coldicutt, moves back to town—complete with a published book. But as the club plans Teensy’s book launch, Molly is attacked and Teensy’s books are stolen. Who would be so desperate for 150 copies of a sexy novel written by an elderly widow? Then Ashton Corners is hit with another shock when Teensy’s publisher turns up dead—and fellow club member and former police chief Bob Miller is taken into custody.

Convinced that Teensy’s missing books hold the key to the murder, Lizzie Turner and her band of readers are determined to hunt them down. But the plot thickens when their search leads them straight into a counterfeiting ring. Now they must unravel this surprise twist before the killer gets the chance to write someone else off…

My Review: This third book in Erika Chase's Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery series finds the club members excited over the return of Molly's childhood friend Teensy Coldicutt. She's written a book, The Winds of Desire (described as a "contemporary Gone with the Wind with all the glamour of Southern belles...with lots of hot, steamy sex"), and since Lizzie is still on summer vacation she volunteers to help Molly plan a book launch. The books no sooner arrive in Molly's garage when she's attacked and the books are stolen. Then Teensy's publisher is murdered and counterfeit money is found in book boxes in his back room. When another body turns up in club member/former police chief Bob Miller's yard and additional counterfeit bills are found in his home, he becomes the prime suspect.

It was wonderful to spend more time with the book club members, and Teensy is such a fun addition to the cast. Mid-way through the book I had one of the bad guys figured out, but a secondary piece of the puzzle really caught me off guard. The end features a neat twist of events that ensure the pages will continue to turn in Ashton Corners, and this reader couldn't be happier!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher with the request for a review.