Ruth
Clagan is ready to launch the grand reopening of Cog &
Sprocket, the clock shop she recently inherited from her Grandpa
Thom. The shop has been closed for renovations, and Ruth has
even hired some employees to help her get things ticking.
The last
thing she needs is the owner of the newest shop in town, a
bookstore, causing trouble. Beckett Green has decided to sell
coffee in his shop to compete with the local coffee shop,
the Sleeping Latte. Next on his agenda is to directly compete
with the Cog & Sprocket by not only selling clocks and
watches but by trying to get Ruth's watchmaker, Mark Pine,
to come work for him! Green also intends to stop Ruth from
her plan to renovate the small town of Orchard's clock tower
– a project that had been near and dear to Grandpa Thom.
After
an Open House and launch party, Ruth discovers Mark's body.
Why would anyone kill this bright young man who everyone seemed
to like? Could it have been Beckett Green? Or is something
even more nefarious going on in the small town of Orchard,
Massachusetts?
The author
has done a wonderful job of conveying the small town feel
which is characteristic of a cozy mystery. The town is teetering
between newcomers and political greed wanting to bring in
the big chain and big box stores, and the families who have
lived there for generations and want to retain the charm and
character as it has always been.
There
were plenty of potential suspects offered and a couple of
possible motives, yet our protagonist Ruth couldn't quite
figure out who the killer was. There was a point in the story
where I caught on as to what was going on, but it wasn't until
the final clue was revealed that things clicked into place.
This
is a fun summer read, but is set in the winter, so really
would be a good year round read. It's appropriate for teens
on up, both men and women would find something of interest
and a mystery book club would enjoy it as well. The time will
fly by as you breeze through chapter after chapter while trying
to solve the mystery.
|
