When Zeffie Got A Clue is up on CFBA with a bonus review by Michelle Sutton!

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

When Zeffie Got a Clue

WaterBrook Press (March 18, 2008)

by

Peggy Darty

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Peggy Darty is the award-winning author of twenty-seven books, including two other cozy mysteries set in Summer Breeze, Florida: When the Sandpiper Calls and When Bobbie Sang the Blues. She has worked in film, researched for CBS, and led writing workshops around the country. Darty and her husband call Alabama home but spend a great deal of time in Colorado, Montana, and on Florida’s Emerald Coast.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
It’s an ordinary afternoon in Summer Breeze, Florida, when a young, wide-eyed girl steps into I Saw It First, the trash-to-treasure shop Christy Castleman and her Aunt Bobbie have opened. Clutching a jewelry box, Zeffie Adams tells Christy she needs money to pay her grandmother’s medical bills, prompting Christy to offer this curious visitor more than the jewelry box is worth–or so she thinks.

But complicated questions form when Christy rips out the box’s lining and uncovers a clue to a cold case murder mystery from eight years ago. Despite warnings from her family and handsome boyfriend Dan Brockman, Christy decides to do a little detective work of her own. After all, the infamous murder happened close to her grandmother’s farm. How risky could it be to take the jewelry box back to the Strickland plantation and ask around about it?

Soon Christy finds there is more to the small box than someone wants her to know. A jewelry theft. A mansion murder. Dangerous family secrets buried in history. Can Christy convince others to let go of the past before it’s too late?

My review:

I don't normally read cozy mysteries, but this one was fun and it held my interest. The title was intriguing and once I got involved in the story and got to know the characters I wanted to finish the book. It had a nice hook and pulled me in. Nothing was edgy or compelling in a suspenseful sense. There were no graphic descriptions or things that made me cringe (not that I like that). There was nothing heart-wrenching or spiritually moving. It was just a nice read. Kind of like a Matlock murder mystery. The characters were well done, the writing was good, and it gave me the warm fuzzies - especially the subplot involving Zeffie. Maybe I would have felt even more attached to the characters if I had read the previous two books in the series. I dunno. Overall I'd say this book is a winner, because not once did I dread picking it up to finish the story. That's a great book!


When Zeffie Got a Clue was published by Waterbrook Press and released in March 2008.