Eve’s Win
Isabel & Alma Trumbo Cozy Mystery #10
Ed Lynskey
ECL Press, Mar 2019
182 pages, Kindle
Cozy mystery
Provided by Author
⭐⭐⭐🌙
Other than the eye-watering color, which does attract attention, I like the artwork on the cover of Eve’s Win. It looks like what I pictured Eve’s house appearing like, with the door unlocked when Alma and Isabel found her body. It’s just that when I first saw the book, and each time I looked at it when I saw it on my Kindle app, that hot pink just jumped out at me and totally turned me off. Minus half a star. If the color had been significant to the story I might have considered it, but it means nothing.
The story itself is interesting. I thought it was a good premise for a cozy mystery, especially for this senior duo. These two sisters and their slightly overweight beagle, Petey Sampson, are rather stereotypical but in a fun way. They’d make a great sitcom. Like the Golden Girls. They have their inside bickering that sisters have, but they pull together and get things done. Actually, I think they may be more like Felix Unger and Oscar Madison from the ancient sitcom, The Odd Couple. Only they really love each other as sisters and work well together. Their friend, Eve, calls and asks for help finding her lost winning lottery ticket worth five million dollars. By the time the sisters get to Eve’s house, she has been murdered. Isabel and Alma work well with the Sheriff, but only to a point. Then he thanks them for their help and tells them he’ll handle it from there. The sisters think there’s more to be done on the case and aren’t sure the Sheriff and his dim deputy can handle it without their input. The book is a pleasant mix of contemporary small-town daily life and behind-the-Sheriff’s-back sleuthing to solve the crime. The pace and tension are slightly on the relaxed side which made it perfect for a hot summer afternoon, but not edge-of-of-your-seat exciting. I recommend this tenth addition to the Isabel and Alma Trumbo Cozy Mysteries.
a thoughtful reveal 