Moving Is Murder: Ellie Avery Mystery Series, Book 1

A Mom Zone Mystery #1

by Sara Rosett, Gail Shalan (Narrator)

Meet military spouse, soccer mom, professional organizer, and savvy sleuth, Ellie Avery!

Moving four times in five years has honed air force wife Ellie Avery's packing and unpacking skills. But moving with a newborn daughter and husband Mitch in tow, during a heat wave, is enough to make her turn to chocolate for comfort. And when Ellie finds a local environmentalist dead on the side of the road, her instincts tell her this was no accident....

Ellie snoops into the activist's suspicious demise, only to realize she's getting closer to the killer...maybe too close! This first Ellie Avery mystery launched a series that continues to win listeners' hearts.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Fiction, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Military Fiction

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

USA Today bestselling author Sara Rosett writes lighthearted mysteries for readers who enjoy atmospheric settings, fun characters, and puzzling whodunits.

She is the author of the High Society Lady Detective historical mystery series as well as three contemporary cozy series, the Murder on Location series, the On the Run series, and the Ellie Avery series. Sara also teaches an online course, How to Outline A Cozy Mystery.

Publishers Weekly called Sara's books, “satisfying,” “well-executed,” and “sparkling.” Sara loves to get new stamps in her passport and considers dark chocolate a daily requirement. Find out more at SaraRosett.com.

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just don't know how other readers found this book entertaining. While the location and military setting added a twist to the usual cozy genre, I found it absolutely ridiculous that the mother of a 4 month old had no problem continually placing herself in danger (and, therefore, her daughter in danger as well). The initial discoveries are the staple of modern cozies. However, it is what the protagonist chooses to do once they recognize that they are now in danger that makes a book worth reading. Again, once she realized the danger she was in, she continued on even though she seemed to give no consideration to the fact that she was putting her daughter in danger as well. Absolutely unlikable character from that point on. I made it three-quarters through the book before I decided I could not read any more. I skimmed the last chapter so that I could find out whether I was correct in "whodunit." Big surprise, I was right.

[JoAnne McMaster (Any Good Book) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the mystery. The only parts that were starting to irritate me were the (many) parts that were centered on her daughter. Yes, I know she's a baby. Yes, I get that you breastfeed her. Yes, I understand you're a new mother and worry about her. But when Ellie wasn't trying to solve the murder, it seemed the rest of the book was all about her daughter. So much so, that it should have been titled, "Moving is Murder But It's All About My Daughter". (And I am sure others will disagree with me). Still, I will continue to read this series and recommend it to others.

[Peggy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I saw a recent book by this author and thought I might like her books, so I started with this first one. Vapid. I'll not be reading any more. So much detail about normal activity, I thought I would cry - "I removed the blanket from the baby's car seat." "I changed the baby's diaper." "The baby was screaming." Absolutely none of these profound events had a thing to do with the story. Totally tiresome, and it could have been a good read.

[Lagniappe · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit of a disappointment. This book had an intriguing premise - a military family who has moved so many times that the wife has now become a professional organizer - yes please! But after 350+ pages I don't understand our protagonist, nor do I think I like her much. The book switches back and forth between excrutiatingly long descriptions of our heroine taking care of her newborn daughter, and then putting said daughter in horribly dangerous situations. WTH?? I like my heroines plucky - not stupid. The mystery seemed to be an afterthought - but not a compelling one. It wasn't hard to figure out "who done it". In addition, none of the supporting cast seemed to pop, and I really wasn't invested in any of them by the end of the book. I did like the moving tips at the end of each chapter. Despite a less than stellar first installment, I'm not ready to give up on the series yet. I'll probably give it one more try.

[Kaitlyn Dunnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-written mystery with lots of interesting twists, which I picked up on the basis of a promotional price and because I've liked other series by this author, but if I'd known how much space would be devoted to details about being a new mother with a baby I'd have given it a pass.

[Emmalynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn’t to bad, I’m almost finished with the other series “On the run” so was curious to see how this series would stack up. There’s a lot of Ellie being a mom and her putting herself in danger needlessly especially with her 4 month old present. Overall, not a bad debut.

[Cheryl Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellie Avery and her husband, Mitch, are settling into their new house in Vernon, Washington with their baby, Livvy. Mitch is a pilot in the Air Force, and Ellie is used to frequent moves. Ellie is glad to be living off-base this time, but she is appalled to learn a good number of Mitch's squadron members live in her neighborhood of Black Rock Hill. Ellie thought they'd be getting away from the base instead of living next to Mitch's co-workers and bosses. At least her good friend, Abby, and Abby's husband, Jeff, live nearby.

Ellie isn't in Vernon long when she and Abby are nearly hit by a run-away van, driven by Cass Vincent. It transpires that the van had its brakes and steering tampered with. Cass is nosy, and Ellie is put off by her attitude. Abby is determined to get involved in military life and mingle with the spouses of military members. Ellie isn't big on the idea, but she agrees to attend a spouse coffee at Cass's house with Abby and while there, finds herself volunteering to help with the fundraising garage sale. Later, Ellie finds herself at a squadron barbecue and notices a confrontation between Cass and Jeff. Driving home, Ellie finds Cass's van in the ditch and Cass at the bottom of the drop, dead. Cass died from an allergic reaction to wasp stings. When Ellie picks up Cass's van for Cass's husband, she decides to run it through the car wash and clean the inside. It is then she notices a Coke can in the van with wasps in it. Could someone have wanted to kill Cass? Why are Cass's EpiPens not in the van glove compartment or her purse? Ellie is more and more convinced Cass was murdered.

Break-ins start happening at the Vincents' house, which Ellie agreed to watch while her husband is out of town planning Cass's funeral. Then, minor mishaps start happening to Ellie, at home and in her car. When Ellie's house is broken into, she feels violated and more determined than ever to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Ellie's digging turns up real estate deals, affairs, and other secrets. Everyone seems to have something to hide, but who would kill to protect their secret? If she doesn't get to the bottom of this, Ellie fears she will be next on the killer's list.

I enjoyed reading this book. Ellie is a likeable protagonist. Even though I figured out the murderer before the big reveal at the end of the book, it was a good, cozy read. I also enjoyed reliving those early days of motherhood as Ellie balanced detecting with caring for her baby daughter. I am definitely going to read the next book in this series.

[E. Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

B-O-R-I-N-G. The plot - such as it is - moves at a snail's pace. Even when there was a murder - and the choice of victims made little sense - there was no suspenseful build-up, no mood-setting, nothing. It just happened. Blink and you'd miss it. The main character, Ellie Avery, is simply not likable. She's dull. There is not an ounce of chemistry with her husband. Makes you wonder how the baby appeared. Plus, for those of us not enchanted by infants, we got treated to little Livvy constantly screaming and soiling herself at the darndest moments. She drags her baby everywhere (I suppose she has to), constantly putting it in harm's way. The only surprise in this series will be if this little girl makes it to kindergarten. The moving tips at the end of each chapter got dumber and dumber. i remain astonished at these brazen women in these little cozies who will ask anybody anything as though it's their business, since local police apparently don't care, no matter where they are. But, the neighbor's dog that Ellie & her husband end up adopting, turned out to be smarter than Rin Tin Tin and way more useful. Guess somebody had to save the day.

[Jeanie Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining first in series. I enjoyed Moving is Murder, but the story is a bit busy, and as I often do with cozy mysteries, I find that the protagonists goes beyond common sense, especially as she has a new baby. I enjoy the real life feel that Ms. Rosett brings to the book and would never have guessed who the murder was. I chose this book because I love another series by the author, so I will probably try again. I especially enjoyed the relationship between Ellie and her husband and between Ellie and her best friend.

[☺Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first in Sara Rosett's Mom Zone cozy mystery series. No strong characters humorous enough or charismatic enough to compel the reader to root for them. Some unreliable characters very easy to actively dislike or mistrust, a few we are supposed to like, though. I have the second book of the series ready and waiting when I feel like reading more about Ellie, Mitch, and baby Livvy. I will probably give this series a second chance.
I found the tips about moving, located at the end of each chapter, jarringly out of place and sort of ruined the story's flow, which was annoying - I would have preferred them to be collected at the end of the book.

[Ashley Berry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried so hard to get into this cozy mystery. AF wife with plenty of moves under my belt I thought it would be the perfect fit. Boy was I wrong; I gave up over half way. The protagonist is not one I would want want to be friends with. She was constantly on my last nerves. Glad it was a library book.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly good read.

[Tari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Different but in a good way

This was a little bit different from your typical cozy mystery in that the protagonist, Ellie, is happily married and has a new baby. It's fun to see an author deviate and make the sleuth happy and settled but still totally capable of investigating murders even while having a baby in tow, which of course no harm ever comes to baby Livvy. It was interesting to read about military life too since I have friends who have lived in base housing and also in base neighborhoods. I definitely plan to continue reading this series because at the end Ellie was left with this weird feeling that I'm hoping leads into the next mystery.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining, amusing mystery

This was an entertaining, amusing read as well as a great example of a mystery whodunit. Ellie Avery, is a military spouse and amateur sleuth, that lives on a Military base with her husband, Mitch and daughter, Livy. On the way back from a base "welcome" event. Ellie spots an van on the side of the road, and discovers the driver, a fellow military spouse (Cass Vincent) in the ditch dead.

It is one of those types of mysteries that lack: sex scenes, gratuitous violence, profanity, etc. I really enjoyed this mystery that is easy going, but still has an interesting, practically well done whodunit.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this series. I read Mistletoe and Murder first and liked it so much that I want to read the series from the beginning. I like how Ellie voices her thoughts to herself. She is very amusing in her observations. Reading about her caring for a newborn brought back many memories. I’m happy my mom recommended this series and plan to continue reading the books.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another new series for me and I will be looking forward to the next one. This series has an interesting background with its young, active military family as the main characters. The mystery itself was very satisfying.

[Tamra Baumann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

I really enjoyed this cozy mystery. Being a military kid growing up, I smiled at some of the memories the story brought back for me.

[Linda Smatzny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book in a series. The main character is Ellie Avery who is a new mother married to an Air Force pilot(Mitch) who has just been transferred to Vernon, Washington. Ellie finds a dead woman on her way home from the squadron barbecue. She can't stop asking questions even as more bodies turn up and accidents begin to happen. The book was a quick easy read.

[Linda "Lilybug's Library" · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 rounded up to 4/5
Ellie Avery’s husband Mitch is in the military and they have just changed posts and moved to military housing in a different location.. They have a newborn and it’s a heatwave. Now to top it off someone is dead and it’s Ellie who’s found them. So far, she's not enjoying this at all!

The plot moved along quickly although I did find it a little hard to follow at times. The characters were multi-faceted and anyone who has ever had a newborn can certainly relate to sleep deprived Ellie who is trying to put all the pieces together.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moving is Murder is a Mom Zone Mystery by Sara Rosett. Moving four times in five years has made Air Force wife Ellie Avery an ace at organizing, but this time they are moving to Vernon in Eastern Washington State with a baby daughter in tow. Mitch is locating in the 52nd Air Refueling Squadron as a pilot which gives down time to help with Olivia, more commonly known as Livvy. They purchased their house thinking they would have some privacy only to learn that most of the squadron lived on Black Rock Hill. Mitch is welcomed by an old friend and his wife Gwen. But, Gwen seems a tad rigid and makes friends with Abby. The wives are quickly absorbed into the Spouse Coffees, squadron barbeques, and rummage sales. Cass, an exuberant blond, offers to highlight Ellie in the next Clippings with Cass. Ironically, it is Cass who makes headlines when her van goes out of control and almost runs over Abby and Ellie out on their walk. The reader soon discovers there is way more going on then meets the eye when Cass, deadly allergic to wasps and bees, is found murdered by bees in her car and her Epi Pen is not with her. Two more murders occur before Ellie figures out what is happening. A cozy with the twist of having moving tips at the end of each chapter.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Light, easy, but good mystery.

Ellie and her husband Mitch have just moved to Washington with their new baby. Mitch is an Air Force pilot and they have moved often. Almost as soon as they move in, Ellie finds the dead body of another Air Force wife. While busy unpacking and caring for her baby, Ellie gets involved solving the mystery.

Liked the character and the plot was good. Nice start to a new series.

[Kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ultimately forgettable. The protagonist doesn’t really stand out, the author doesn’t successfully get us to care about the people, and the military wife background doesn’t add anything. I’ve been trying to read less-heavy stuff lately, and I used to like the cozy mystery genre a bit, but this one, while not bad, was just blah.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading this several years ago and really enjoyed it.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dreary.....

[Nathalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This gives you an insider look to the lives of military families with which the author is familiar as the wife of an Air Force pilot. Great mystery which kept me guessing to till the end.

[Lesa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, I was very disappointed with this story. I have read all of Sara Rosette's other series and enjoyed them a great deal, so looked forwarded to this new series through the several weeks I had to wait to receive a copy from my library. But it just didn't live up to her other stories.

Her other series are set in Europe and are obviously heavily researched. This one is set in the US and in the state in which I live. This is not a good thing, as it turns out, because it was blatantly obvious that she did NOT do any location research for this book. While the pandemic was likely the reason she couldn't visit in person, there is no reason that she couldn't reach out to someone online who lives in the area to verify her descriptions were accurate.

So, what did she get so wrong? Pretty much every description of the locale. She set her fictitious military base in central Washington, "between the Cascade Mountains and the Rockies". Okay, technically correct; however, she says you can see the Rockies from the base, which is not at all true. If you only looked at a map, you might get that idea, but it is only the foothills of the Rockies to the east and they simply aren't high enough to see at any great distance. It's the Cascades (and our elegant show capped mountains) that you can see from Eastern Washington (Google Mt. Rainier to get an idea. It's our tallest mountain and visible on both sides of the Cascades. However, it's Mt. Adams to the south that is most viewable in Eastern WA).

She also describes the heat of Eastern Washington as being humid and muggy, the kind of thing where you still feel wet after getting out of the shower. This is the type of heat you encounter in the South in places like Louisiana. In Eastern WA, the heat is very dry, so that you barely need to towel off after a shower because you dry so quickly. In other words, the very opposite of how she described it.

I was able to mostly enjoy the book if I pretended that the local in the book was completely fictitious and not somewhere I had ever been. However, I won't be reading the rest of this series.

[Julie Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book just wasn't for me. There was nothing wrong with it, I just found it rather slow going and to be honest I struggled to finish it. Yes she did pick up a clue taking her baby to the doctors but it was the whole getting there that I found tedious, as was most of her clue finding. I also didn't understand why we needed helpful tips for moving house at the start of Every chapter, it might have been better if the author had included some humour or something into them, rather than just colour code your boxes for each room but done with a lot more words. Otherwise the mystery was good with a lot of suspects. I liked the characters and the new mother plot but don't think I will be carrying on with this series.
Despite all the careful planning Ellie's house moving plans don't pay off. The neighbourhood the new mother has moved to is full of her husband's squadron team mates and she quick finds herself getting volunteered with team wife's activities. When a barbeque ends up with her finding one of the wives dead by the side of the road, Ellie can't help but get involved. Despite the police believing it was an accident Ellie doesn't think so and when her husband asks her to look after the house while he makes a decision it gives her the perfect opportunity to look for clues as to who would want her dead. When another wife from the squadron is killed, Ellie wonders if Moving to her new house was the right decision for her and her family, especially as she even becomes suspicious of her best friend and husband.
The narrator was okay and you could tell who was speaking, I think it was just the story that fell flat.

[Snow · Rating 3 out of 5]

I needed some time to gather my thoughts about this book. Having thoroughly enjoyed the author’s other series’s, I was excited to start Ellie Avery’s story. Sadly, this first book didn’t give me the same enjoyment as the previous books I’ve read by Sara Rosett.

This story starts right after the MC and family have moved to their new base. There was a lot of interesting information about military families and the constant moving that takes place that I did enjoy reading about.

Unfortunately, my issue was mainly with the MC. Ellie was initially pulled into lots of drama and a murder plot based on her family’s move to a new home. About halfway through the book, Ellie shifts from bystander to active participant in the investigation. She begins going through friends’ desks and night stand drawers, searching the dead person’s house (which she just so happens to be house sitting), etc. The lovely thing about Kate Sharp, Zoe Hunter and Olive Belgrave (MCs of the other series’s) is that they become involved when things happen to them or around than. Ellie is trying to solve this case out of curiosity. And she manages to consistently endanger her 4-month old daughter in the process.

This book didn’t have the same lighthearted feel as the other books I’ve read from this author. The banter was missing. My favorite character in the book was Rex, a German shepherd puppy. I’m not currently planning to pursue this series, although the 2 chapter preview for “Monster in law,” a much later book in this series, looked intriguing.

[Kathy Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first in the ten-book Ellie Avery series. Ellie is an Air Force wife who has just moved to a new city with her pilot husband Mitch and her infant daughter Livie. Before the boxes are even unpacked, Ellie comes upon the body of another Air Force wife. Cass was a life-of-the-party environmentalist who was the first to welcome Ellie to the new neighborhood.

When Ellie finds Cass dead on the side of the road from anaphylactic shock, she is suspicious of the death. Where were her two EpiPens? And who put a paper cup filled with wasps in her van? And why was she seen arguing with one of the other pilots?

As Ellie investigates, she finds herself the victim of some dangerous pranks and is sure that someone has been in her house snooping around for something. She slowly manages to uncover the conspiracy as the story progresses.

The story is entertaining and suspenseful. It is also filled with tips for moving and packing from this woman who wants to become a professional organizer.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually a pretty good story. I have a hard time keeping track of the characters and all their names, so it became confusing after a while. Almost everybody in the story is a suspect at some point, and it kept me hopping. Although I did spot the crucial clue right away (60 years of reading mysteries will give you that edge), and probably knew who the killer was, but the names were so scrambled in my head that I couldn't keep track of who was who outside of Livvy (the baby), Mitch (the husband), and Abby (the best friend). I listened to the audio version while driving and walking, so I couldn't take notes. The writing was pretty good. The only detail that niggled at my OCD brain was the weather. It was scorching hot one day, the leaves were turning and there was a nip in the air practically the next day and it was snowing by the end. The timeline just doesn't add up, even for Oregon.