A Killer Read by Erika Chase

A Killer Read by Erika Chase is not my favorite book this year, in fact, the only thing I really liked about it is the mystery was not easy to solve.  The characters were likable, but it honestly just felt like an advertisement for all the other cozy mystery writers.  Interspersed in the plot were quotes by other cozy writers, titles of other cozy mysteries recommended by the characters, book lists for all the characters of current cozy mysteries, with a few Agatha Christie, Dan Brown, etc., books.  It was a real turn off for me.

A Killer Read is set in Ashton Corners, Alabama.  The Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straw Society is meeting at Molly Mathews old Southern manor when a stranger is discovered lurking in the foyer.  He says he came in to use the phone, because his car has broken down.  After he uses the phone, he leaves, then is found shot to death by the members as they are leaving.   About the same time as the murder, a manuscript starts showing up in the middle of the night at Lizzie Turner's house.

As the members of the ACMR&CSS try to solve the murder, they uncover long buried secrets from the past, which have to be solved along with figuring out why the stranger was at Molly's and where he fits in with the town.