Book Review: Deadly Brew by Lynn Cahoon

 

I picked up this novella from our ebook catalog on one of my borrowing sprees – I go in and pick a book from several different genres so that I have something to read no matter what I’m feeling like. Since we are allowed 5 books at a time, it’s a great way to pick up books from the comfort of my own home without spending any money.

This looked like a fun little cozy mystery. I started it the other day, and it was perfect for the sudden downturn in temperatures, a fun Halloween mystery set in a haunted house, where several couples are going to spend the weekend. The main character, Jill Gardner, owns “Coffee, Books, and More, and her boyfriend is the sheriff. Her neighbor is a spiritualist/medium, perfect for a haunted house mystery.

We start out at the fun coffee shop, all decorated for Halloween, getting to know the main character and her surroundings then head to the “haunted house” where they meet their friends. The caretaker is a little taciturn but he isn’t staying so no big deal.

It seems like it’s all fun and games. They will be locked in with plenty of food, and they brought their own beer and wine. There are four couples – Jill and her sheriff boyfriend, Greg, their friends Matt and Darla, Jill’s friend Amy and her boyfriend Justin, Jill’s neighbor Esmeralda, and her friend Jake.

Jill is apparently pretty nosy. “Everyone has secrets. Maybe this David’s were interesting.”

The last woman to live in the house is the real mystery though. She disappeared some years ago and it was recently auctioned off to be torn down. Condos will be put up in its place. Before that happens, they auctioned off a night in the house for charity.

There are some odd little incongruities. Jill and Greg simply spread their sleeping bag on a bed that still has bedding on it, though no one has been doing the housekeeping for years. I’d be checking for anything living in the bed first, and at least removing a layer to remove dust.

That night, the spiritualist sets them up for a little Ouija board séance which suddenly becomes rather interesting. They also find out the woman who lived in the house was a witch of some kind. Then there’s the books that just move across the room and the dream Jill has. It’s shaping up to be a good, super natural mystery.

It’s just a little novella, but it took a leap between the séance and them going to bed that bothered me. I would have liked the author to include something about the stories the characters told each other in between and the marshmallows toasted in the fireplace. She lost a chance for some good setting and color in the story there.

What really bothered me most came much later in the story. This goes from being a cozy little mystery to a very disturbing explanation for why the woman who lived there was murdered. To my mind, it leapt form a cozy mystery to a modern mystery, and it could have at least been glossed over.

I felt a bit like it was bait and switch. I enjoyed most of the story to a reasonable degree but that really put a bad end on it for me. I wouldn’t dissuade anyone from reading it, but neither would I recommend it. A bit disappointing.