SITTING ON A FORTUNE
Publisher: Clear Creek Publishing
Date of Publication: February 11, 2020
Scroll down for giveaway!
During In a Pinch Professional Services’s latest gig at an upholstery shop, Madison finds a chair that’s perfect for her husband’s birthday gift. At least it will be, once she removes the worn velvet. Hiding the chair at Granny Bert’s, Madison tackles her first solo upholstery project but soon discovers more than she bargained for! A hidden treasure beneath the cushion puts her in the middle of a new mystery and new danger.
The treasure isn’t her only problem. While helping a young boy find his lost dog, Madison lands on the wrong side of surly businessman Lamont Andrews. Meanwhile, best friend Genny is worried about one of her café patrons. Mr. Pruett’s wild stories are getting wilder each day, and now he’s missing. Plus, there’s the matter of a troublesome new habit Maddy seems to have acquired: breaking and entering. It’s a harsh term for simply trying to rescue a dog and save an old man.
Somehow, she knows it all fits together. But what does a lost dog, a cluttered old barn, Mr. Pruett’s disappearance, and a hidden treasure have to do with her chair? Now someone is stalking her and her grandmother, and Madison knows that danger is on its way.
As always, The Sisters are full of fun, excitement, family antics, and more danger than the law allows!
I get a little nervous when I’m reviewing a book that is part of series that I haven’t kept up with. I worry that I will be too focused on the minutiae that are explained in earlier books. Well, I worried for nothing because Sitting on a Fortune by Becki Willis grabbed my attention and did not let up for one second. Willis must be the mistress of narrative exposition because not only did she give the right amount of backstory for people and events that I should know about already, but each occurrence made me more and more excited about reading books 1-8 as well.
I enjoy Willis’ style of mystery writing because she doesn’t throw red herrings left and right, but she also doesn’t hit you over the head with the relevant clues either. The only thing that made me pause for a moment was her choice to have Madison speak her thoughts aloud so often. It almost felt like it was used solely as a device to have our protagonist caught out on several occasions. Although to be fair, when I’m psyching myself up to do something or have trouble processing something in my head, I have a tendency to talk to myself too.
Something about small towns where silly old rivalries run rampant and everyone knows everybody else’s business make for great reading. The interaction between Madison and Monte played out like a moving Normal Rockwell painting, while the bustle at Genny’s cafe had me picturing a cuter version of Luke’s Diner from Gilmore Girls. I would give anything to see a picture of Madison’s three-story mansion and the blueprints (especially for all the secret additions). Even more than the idea of living in an old mansion, I am enamored with the thought of living across the street from an old library.
In addition to knowing more about their community, I am excited to read the previous books so that I can soak up all the lovely backstories and Madison’s meet cute with her husband. If not for Willis sharing little tidbits about the early challenges of blending their families, you wouldn’t have guessed that this more modern and smaller version of the Brady Bunch faced any obstacles at all. Although, I get a little bit of a vibe just short of a ’50s husband flavor when Madison’s police chief husband shows disapproval at the thought of her pursuing her private investigator license. I would have liked a little more exposition on that business. Is Brash just worried about her safety or is he worried a little bit that she will get in the way of his job? Again, I must read books 1-8!
A nice little touch would have been to have a sample page of Juliet’s journal at the very end of the book. Perhaps something that could tease the reader for the next installment in the series. Overall, I am very much in love with this cozy mystery. I never thought about what the “cozy” part meant but I feel like this book embodied it perfectly. (I now take cozy to mean no crass, sexy stuff or gratuitous gore.) So I can highly recommend this series to anyone who likes a good mystery that leaves you feeling lighter once you’ve finished it.
Becki Willis, best known for her popular The Sisters, Texas Mystery Series and Forgotten Boxes, always dreamed of being an author. In November of ’13, that dream became a reality. Since that time, she has published numerous books, won first place honors for Best Mystery Series, Best Suspense Fiction, Best Women’s Detective Fiction and Best Audio Book, won the 2018 RONE Award for Paranormal Fiction, and has introduced her imaginary friends to readers around the world.
An avid history buff, Becki likes to poke around in old places and learn about the past. Other addictions include reading, writing, junking, unraveling a good mystery, and coffee. She loves to travel, but believes coming home to her family and her Texas ranch is the best part of any trip. Becki is a member of the Association of Texas Authors, Writer’s League of Texas, Sisters in Crime, the National Association of Professional Women, and the Brazos Writers organization. She attended Texas A&M University and majored in Journalism.
2nd Prize: Audio Codes for the first four The Sisters, Texas books
3rd Prize: Autographed paperback copy of Sitting on a Fortune
February 20-March 1, 2020
|
2/20/20
|
BONUS Post
|
|
|
2/20/20
|
Review
|
|
|
2/21/20
|
Review
|
|
|
2/22/20
|
Review
|
|
|
2/23/20
|
Review
|
|
|
2/24/20
|
Review
|
|
|
2/25/20
|
Review
|
|
|
2/26/20
|
Review
|
|
|
2/27/20
|
Full Series Review
|
|
|
2/28/20
|
Review
|
|
|
2/29/20
|
Review
|
missusgonzo 