Cozy Up to Death: Cozy Up Series, Book 1

Cozy Up #1

by Colin Conway

A man in hiding. A gang of outlaws searching for retribution. This is no time for cupcakes. Today is Brody Steele’s first day as the new owner of The Red Herring, Pleasant Valley, Maine’s only mystery bookstore. The cute shop has a loyal customer base as well as an ornery cat.

Unfortunately, Brody doesn’t know the first thing about running a legitimate business, he doesn’t want to be in the small town, and he hates cats. On top of all that, he hasn’t read a book since high school. When a cute woman walks into the store, he thinks his bad luck is about to change. But as she starts asking about the previous owner’s whereabouts, his safe new existence begins to unravel.

For Brody Steele is a man with a secret he must protect at all costs. The U.S. Government has invested a lot to keep it hidden, and his enemies will stop at nothing to expose him. Does happiness or death await Brody in this charming seaside community?

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Fiction, Audiobook, Amazon, Crime

Audible Audio

Published August 26, 2020

About the author

Are you on BookBub? You can follow Colin there at: www.bookbub.com/profile/colin-conway

Colin Conway is the creator of the 509 Crime Stories, a series of novels set in Eastern Washington with revolving lead characters. They are standalone tales and can be read in any order.

He also created the Cozy Up series which pushes the envelope of the cozy genre. Libby Klein, author of the Poppy McAllister series, says Cozy Up to Death is “Not your grandma’s cozy.”

Colin co-authored the Charlie-316 series. The first novel in the series, Charlie-316, is a political/crime thriller that has been described as “riveting and compulsively readable,” “the real deal,” and “the ultimate ride-along.”

He served in the U.S. Army and later was an officer of the Spokane Police Department. He's owned a laundromat, invested in a bar, and ran a karate school. Besides writing crime fiction, he is a commercial real estate broker.

Colin lives with his beautiful girlfriend, three wonderful children, and a codependent Vizsla that rules their world.

Reviews

[Phrynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am giving this five stars because it was so totally entertaining and original. Defining its genre is difficult - I can only describe it as a cosy with attitude. It will certainly satisfy readers of any type of crime fiction.

The story begins with Brody Steele on his first day as the owner of the Red Herring bookstore. There is a cat who delights in knocking books off the shelves and lots of slightly quirky bookshop regulars. All very cosy so far, but it soon becomes apparent that Brody is not what he seems and there is plenty going on behind the scenes.

If you are like me and enjoy all types of mystery from cosy through to hard boiled then this is a book to read. The author uses aspects of both and pulls them together in a quite remarkable way. I am very happy to see that the series continues.

Thanks Col for your review which brought this series to my attention.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brody Steele is a man hiding out. He’s the new owner of a crime fiction bookshop in a small seaside town in Maine. The bookshop even comes with a cat, albeit it one with a surly attitude and a plethora of names. The only problem is Brody doesn’t read books and doesn’t like cats and he’s not even sure he likes small towns. However, once he realises the people are friendly, and he meets the very attractive young female mystery reader who regularly visits the shop he decides he might just be able to make a new life here, as long as he is not found by those looking for him.

When Brody learns that the previous owner of the bookshop is missing, he can’t help investigating what happened to her. He also knows something is amiss with the new Italian restaurant in town and finds himself drawing unwanted attention. A very entertaining, not so cosy mystery with an interesting male MC, some quirky locals, some out of towners with violence in mind and a very feisty cat.

[Terence M [Quot libros, quam breve tempus!] · Rating 1 out of 5]

1-Star for "Cozy up to Death" - I really tried to like it!
I don't know whether or not I have read or heard an actual "Cozy Mystery" before this one, but CM's have never been attractive to me. Mostly the books' covers and titles alone have turned me off! I'll complete this review with the response I wrote to my GR Friend, David Mc, who was enthusiastic about this book:

"Well, I didn't really like it, David, although I DID finish it! Midway through I was 'sort of' enjoying it, but in the end it was simply far too corny and amateurish for me!

I never expect total credibility or plausibility when I reading Fiction, but this story felt like the author really wanted to write a full-size novel, maybe 8 to 10 hours long, but he was either constrained by his publisher (or editor), or his own wishes. Five hours is plainly not enough time to tell the story and plots he envisaged, and his conclusions were totally unsatisfactory.

The narrator was OK and his vocal characterisations were quite good, but he sounded like he was acting out the various characters' roles, rather than telling us their stories, in their voices. I do understand about "show / tell", but in this case the vocal enthusiasm was over-the-top, in my opinion anyway. I have heard 1,000's of audiobooks, so I feel reasonably qualified to give it here.

Thanks for the recommendation, David, but the over-used cliché "not all books are for all people" is appropriate for this book🙄!"

Colin Conway - Cozy Up #1 - Cozy Up to Death - 2020
Narrator: Damon Abdallah 04:56 hrs - Commenced 24/01/2026

BTW, I do not think of Agatha Christie as a CM author, although I could be wrong - I have only heard two of her books; both rated 2-Stars, with one being a dnf!

[Hákon Gunnarsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beau Smith, a former gang member, and a biker with a violent past gets a new start in the witness protection program as the new owner of The Red Herring, a crime fiction book store in Pleasant Valley, Maine. The shop comes with a loyal customer base and a cat. Unfortunately Brody Steele, the new name of the former biker, doesn’t like cats, and hasn’t read a book since he was in high school. Steele’s new sleepy existence in this town comes with more events for him than he thought it would.

I think this is a cozy mystery with a bit of hard boiled detective novel thrown in. Maybe that’s not an accurate analyze of it, but at least the narrative is somewhat rougher than in most cozies I’ve read. The thing is that even though Steele likes to knit, the rougher voice fits his character. He is after all a biker with a violent past “behind” him.

Other than that I think this fits quite well into the cozy mystery genre. It has somewhat quirky cast of characters, a murder mystery, and a large dose of humor. In some sense a typical cozy, I guess. I enjoyed this read a lot. It has a building suspense throughout the novel, and humor that I found quite fitting. I liked this book so much that I will have to find the next in the series.

[☮Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to Cozy Up to Death, the first in its series, and it was such a delight I am already listening to the second book. If you never tried an audiobook before, this would be a good one to start with -- not too deep or dense, with lots of humor. It's like a cozy in that way but better than a cozy in other ways. The narrator, Damon Abdullah, has a dreamy voice that he easily conforms to all the various quirky characters.

Thanks to Phrynne for starting me down this path. 😽🐈

[Mike Finn · Rating 4 out of 5]

IN A NUTSHELL
Fun from the first page to the last. A cozy mystery with attitude. It made me smile and kept me guessing. I'll be back for more.

Colin Conway was a new author for me. I'd never heard of this series. I found a list that BookBub sent me, which said that Amazon was offering the first book of the series for free. The cover looked cool, and the premise was intriguing, so I downloaded it. I'm very glad I did. Now I have a whole new series to read. 

Writing a Cozy Mystery set in a tiny coastal town in Maine, with a protagonist who runs a bookstore called 'The Red Herring' that specialises in mysteries and has a resident cat, sounds like very familiar territory... until you meet the protagonist, currently going by the name Brody Steele. He's new in town, he doesn't read, he doesn't know anything about mystery novels, and he hates cats.

Part of the fun of the book comes from discovering who Brody is and why he's in Maine. Part of it comes from seeing the impact the people of the small town have on Brody, who is out of his depth but, to his surprise, is having fun. 

Add in a plot that includes Brody being in conflict with the mob and a biker gang, and you have a recipe for mayhem.

I liked Brody. I even liked the small town. The humour worked for me. The plot moved at just the right pace. I found myself smiling as I read this. It was a fast, light, entertaining read that left me keen to read the rest of the Cozy Up series and to try some of Colin Conway's other books.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun take on Witness Protection with an unlikely bookstore owner in a small town where some mob representatives have already staked their claim. How can this work? Lots of fun.

Kindle Unlimited

[Mark Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today is Brody Steele’s first day running The Red Herring, a mystery bookstore in Pleasant Valley, Maine. However, he’s not a reader. So what is he doing here? It’s a cover since Brody has just entered the Witness Protection Program after turning on his former motorcycle gang. Brody is sure he will find his new life too quiet. However, as he tries to settle into town, he begins to find questions. Is there danger lurking just below the surface?

I’m always looking for something different, so I was intrigued by the premise of this book when I first heard about it. It took a while for the story to get going, but once Brody started to realize something was wrong, I was hooked all the way until the climax. I enjoyed the character growth we saw in Brody, and I liked several other characters as well. I did think the writing could be a bit more polished. I also found a few things about the Witness Protection Program, as described here, a little hard to swallow. Then again, I haven’t done any research on it and instead learned everything I know about it from the TV show In Plain Sight, so I decided to sit back and enjoy the story, which I most certainly did. Despite the series name and book title, we do get more violence than in a typical cozy. Overall, I’m glad I gave the book a chance, and I’m curious to see where the series will go from here.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

i got this thru The Fussy Librarian as a free ebook on amazon so i wasn't sure what to expect.
I chose it b/c i like cozy's and this seemed to have a new slant on the usual type.
The protagonist is a large man, ex-Outlaw biker who is now in the Witness Protection program. Not your usual amateur detective found in a cozy.

I liked the character of Beau/Brodie. I found him engaging and the story interesting even though he'd been a bad guy.
It does move a little slowly like any other cozy.
But this time, our amateur sleuth doesn't stumble across a dead body.
He's relocated to a small town in Maine as the new owner of a bookstore. The residents of the town wonder what happened to the previous owner Alice.
Alice is missing and that's what Beau/Brodie investigates.

There are a lot of suspects and small clues along the way. It was a good mystery.
Lots of twists. Some humor.

Apparently, this is the first book in what is a trilogy series, therefore the ending left off w/a bit of a cliffhanger. I definitely want to read the other 2 books & find out what happens next.

Negative-Beau/Brodie has an identifying tattoo. It seems to me that if you're going into hiding, you might want to get rid of said obvious identification.
Also, I'm not in law enforcement but I imagine those who are would know better that some of this is really not plausible. (but it's entertaining fiction so you leave realism at the door)

FYI: Beau is a criminal w/a violent past that catches up to him and brings turbulence to the peaceful town. So if you have issues w/empathy for a bad guy as your lead character than this isn't for you. But if you're interested in reading a good story w/a twist on the typical cozy, i'd recommend this.

[Shannon M (Canada) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking for another humorous cozy thriller series and decided to try COZY TO DEATH. The protagonist of this series is Brady Steele, a protected witness, who is given the concealment of a crime fiction bookstore owner in a small town in Maine. Brady has a violent past, but he testified against some who gave the orders, and so has been given this second chance.

The previous owner of the bookstore—another protected witness—disappeared, and Brody is drawn into the investigation of her disappearance.

I didn’t find this one terribly comical. To me, the satirical tone seemed forced. I enjoyed the interactions with some of the crazy people who lived in the town, and especially the cat who resided in the bookstore, but Brady wasn’t playful, or even very nice. This book was good enough to read to the end—hence the three-star rating—but when I discovered that the series was not going to remain in the small Maine town, but follow Brady, the unlikeable protagonist, from place to place, I decided that I didn’t want to read any more from this series. Would rather have followed the cat.

[Emmalynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprising treat. A little grittier than a cozy but there were definite elements of of the humor, “Cat”quirky characters, love interest etc. B. S. Is a great lead, he’s trying so hard to turn over a new leaf and not kill those who would hurt him and you can fell his inner struggle at letting the idiots live 🤣🤣 his ongoing was with CAT is just funny.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was different (in a good way). It's about one man's first experience living in a small down under the Witness Protection Program. I really enjoyed watching "Brody" try to fit in, stay under cover and reel in his violent tendencies. And even though the titles in the series include the word "cozy", the violence level is a step up from most books in that genre, so be forewarned. I'll be reading the next in the series. 4 stars

[Cathy Geha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cozy Up To Death by Colin Conway
The Cozy Up Series #1

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be plopped down in a completely foreign-to-you setting and told you had to leave behind yourself and become someone entirely different? Why would this happen? Perhaps because you gave evidence to the FBI against someone with the power to kill you and fearing that would happen the government gave you a new identity. That happened to Beau Smith in this new take on the Cozy Mystery genre.

Beau has been put in Pleasant Valley, Maine to live a quiet life as a bookstore owner and given the name Brody Steele. He has a quiet town to settle into, a business to learn, a cat that came with the store and a town that wonders what happened to the previous owner. There is definitely a mystery or two or three to be solved and Beau/Brody is in the thick of things even while trying to maintain a low profile and not give away his past identity.

What I liked:
* Beau/Brody: a man with an interesting past who seems to enjoy the change a small town and its residents provide – especially Daphne
* The cat of many names – what an interesting idea for customers to have a cat in the bookstore and also have the legend that went along with the cat’s name
* The quirky characters sprinkled through the story
* That the cozy’s main character is a man and not the typical hero one would expect in this genre
* The twists and turns and surprises
* Beau’s ability to take charge
* The writing, plot and pace of the story
* That there was more action in this book than in most cozies
* The bad guys

What I didn’t like:
* The bad guys...glad they got their comeuppance

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Yes
Was it the typical cozy mystery? No, not really, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway

Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

[Andy Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn't sure about this when I picked it up but really enjoyed it.

The main premise is that a former biker gang member has rolled on his brothers and gone into the Witness Protection Scheme and is now the totally unqualified owner of a mystery (genre) book store and a cat. With a new name and a new outlook on life things may be starting to look up - but what happened to the previous owner? And you nobody rats on the gangs and walks away.

Cozy Up To Death was a fun read (I finished it in a day) and I certainly will be following the rest of the series

[Frank Zafiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a prevailing belief in the crime-reading community that cozy readers don't read hard boiled and vice versa. I don't know how true that is (though I fit the bill as a hard boiled reader) but the good news is that with this book it doesn't matter! Conway's first Cozy Up book is a perfect mash up of cozy and hard boiled. He obeys (and teases a little) almost all of the cozy conventions while still delivering a story that would be right at home on the gritty pages of a Donald Westlake novel.

If you're a die-hard cozy fan, this book is for you.

If you're a die-hard hard boiled action fan, this book is for you.

The danger in trying to please two different tastes is that you'll satisfy neither. Conway adroitly dodges that pitfall and achieves quite the opposite - as a hard boiled fan, I enjoyed the hell out of this book, and based on the endorsement he got from Libby Klein, so did the cozy readers!

One of the things I liked about this was the small threads of humor woven into the story, always slightly tongue in cheek but never disrespectful. It allowed me as a self-satisfied hard boiled reader to gently mock the cozy conventions while I dug the elements of hard boiled that I was there for. However, about halfway through, I realized that any cozy reader would be doing essentially the same thing, but at my expense.

It's brilliant.

Conway rides the line of balance and navigates it masterfully. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!

(*I was fortunate enough to read an early copy of this book, and the next two, so I am speaking with an informed voice here -- this series rocks!)

[Kent Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

A man’s man of a cozy!

I love cozy mysteries a lot, but one of the things about them that drive me kind of crazy is the lack of any masculinity in them. It’s why as an author myself, I’m working on creating a brand new subgenre called a brozy mystery...a cozy with a bit of a kick to it. And after reading this book, I’d say that Cozy Up to Death is probably the broziest brozy of them all.

If I hadn’t already developed the term, I would have originally said this is an “anti-cozy”, because it takes all the cozy tropes and turns them upside down (maybe even dumps a few of them in the ocean and a dumpster or two along I-95), all the while paying beautiful tribute to those same tropes along the way.

I mean, here you have a guy who runs a bookstore (cozy trope, check), which has an adorable cat (cozy trope, check), in an idyllic small town (cozy trope, check), finds a little non-sexual romance along the way (cozy trope, check), and begins looking into the disappearance of a beloved town person that might have been murdered (cozy trope check). But let’s pull back the curtains just a bit (don’t worry! No spoilers here!) and we’ll find that that bookstore owner? Yeah, he’s an ex-bike club hatchet man with a heart of gold who happens to be in witness protection. He also hasn’t read a book since high school. The cat? Yeah, our hero isn’t a big fan of cats. But all bookstores need cats, right? So he’s got a cat (and the cat is very very awesome, I might add). The romance remains true no matter how you want to turn it up on its ear. In fact, the romance is rather amazing, and makes you see this big bad biker with the heart of gold (who loves his grandma) with even more adoration.

This book, I have to say, hit all the right notes for me. I absolutely loved it. In fact, it ties at my number 1 favorite cozy mystery along with John Gaspard’s Ely Marks series. Needless to say, on to book two with great anticipation. I should also point out that my comments about it being an ‘anti-cozy cozy’ shouldn’t be taken too literally. Conway takes great care to show a deep love and respect to the genre. It in no way diminishes the cozy genre, but in reality lifts it up. Builds it up. And makes it a force of good that will change even the hardest of career biker criminals into a sweet, good natured man who grew to love the small quiet little cozy town he was forced to move to by the US government.

And if you’re ever curious as to what a brozy mystery is...this is one for you to check out!

[Anita Rodgers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cozy up to Death is billed as 'not your grandma's cozy' - I suppose I could agree with that. There were definitely aspects you wouldn't see in the usual cozy. The problem is that it didn't quite work for me. The characters were likeable, if a bit two dimensional. The premise was interesting. But, I don't know, it just kind of petered out in the last third of the book. Maybe it was the fight scene where the MC fought off and won against two assailants? Or the big reveal at the end? Something just didn't click for me.

This is a first in series, so perhaps the books get better as they go along.

Pleasant read.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, which is hard to fit into a sub-genre. It has a cozy feel, with a bookstore, small town where everybody knows everybody else, and a cat. But it also has some violence.

This is the first in a trilogy--maybe there are, or will be, more than just the 3. There are enough loose ends to get me reading the next one quickly.

[Bobbi Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! The characters were very believable. I’d love to visit the town this took place in. Sounds lovely and all the people very welcoming. Emery the constable was a hoot.

[Lynn Wendland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been converted to truly enjoying Cozy Mystery's because of this book. I loved the characters. The storyline made me giggle and kept me interested from the first page to the last. I also loved the twist at the end of the book.

[Marlys · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a great book and a great start to a series. Having a guy in the Witness Protection Protection program owning a bookstore in a small is a great start to this cozy series. The characters were believable because of the wonderful writing.

[karin whitehead · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this novel as an ARC, here is my review.
Who would think the big biker that suddenly becomes a book store owner is under the witness protection act? Who at what is he hiding from? How does he cope being invisible in a rinky dinky town? Who would believe he would inherit a cat in his new life, and actually like this scenario? A wonderful, clean and simply fun story! Well written, great characters and an interesting plot. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this little gem! Try it! You'll enjoy it as much as I did!

[Sandra Holladay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, a former enforcer/killer in a biker gang puts his grandmother before his biker family and goes into witness protection in a small town. His cover is bookstore owner, he doesn’t really read, has no idea what he is doing but wings it when customers ask questions. Love the cat. Actually, the entire cast of characters is really good (or bad, however you want to look at it). Definitely worth reading, I need to get the next book in the series.

[bex · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 star

It started out okay, but then it slowed down, dragged, and sorta fell apart. The plot felt contrived and forced and the character didn't really develop as expected. Definitely didn't feel anything like a cozy in the end.

[Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cozy Up to Death
Cozy Up Series, Book 1

By: Colin Conway
Narrated by: Damon Abdallah

The Characters! The Writing, The Humor! Love at First Listen!

Overall: 5 of 5 stars Performance: 5 of 5 stars Story: 5 out 5 stars
Reviewed: 02-24-24

The Red Herring is not your ordinary book store and Brody Steele is not your ordinary Bookseller. He’s big, ornery on a good day, and well, Brody hasn’t been having too many good days lately… then there’s THAT cat, the cat of many names… and HE’s elevated ornery to an art form! First, let me say, I loved everything, EVERYTHING, about this listen! Every once in a while it all comes together perfectly, and with “Cozy Up to Death” it … just … does! The story is smooth, easy to follow, and has all the elements I look for in a cozy mystery. I’m not giving details to avoid spoilers, but rest assured there are protagonists aplenty, a varied choice of suspects, mystery, suspense, and action! The edge of my seat saw wear, breath was sufficiently bated, and interest was held throughout! Now on to the characters, oh holy WOW the characters! They were without exception BRILLIANT! So varied, well conceived, designed and defined, I loved the every single character, even the nasties! Oh I wanted to bat them about to be sure, and I fist pumped and whooped when they got theirs, but they were so perfectly brilliant, that they truly defined “loved to hate”! Their dialogue not only fit their personalities, but moved the story forward beautifully, keeping this listener in the moment, entertained and engaged throughout! I had so much fun listening! What made this experience even more enjoyable was the absolutely astounding narration! With vocal selections perfectly fitting each character, they are brought stunningly alive, and made believable, through perfect accents, dialects, and emotional intonation! I loved everything about this story and performance! Five stunning stars across all categories!

[Missi Martin (Stockwell) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cozy Up to Death by Colin Conway is the perfect book to get lost in. The story will capture the readers attention immediately and they will be powerless in putting it down.

In Cozy Up to Death readers are hanging around with main character Beau Smith who use to be the bookkeeper for a motorcycle gang but he turned on them to save himself from going to prison. In exchange for turning on his gang, he has been placed in the witness protection program and moved to Pleasant Valley, Maine where he is now Brody Steele and he is the owner of a mystery book store called The Red Herring. Being the owner of the bookstore he also "inherited" a cat....

While Brody is trying to get use to his new boring life, he meets a local woman that he falls for instantly. He also finds out that the previous owner of the bookstore left unexpectedly and a lot of the townspeople want to know why. After Brody learns more about Alice, the previous owner, he also begins to wonder about her sudden departure and him taking her place.

As Brody gets to know his new town and the people living there, he uncovers some secrets.....some secrets people are willing to kill over...... Can he save himself, the woman he is smitten with and his new town ??

Readers will enjoy getting to know Brody and Pleasant Valley. There is so much to love about this first book in the Cozy Up series that readers are sure to want to pick up future books. Conway's ability to draw readers in and hold their attention is off the charts amazing !! I didn't want the story to end but I wanted to know how it ended......not the worse dilemma to be in.

[BethFishReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book in the Cozy Up series, featuring a man who is in the witness protection program.

I really like the premise of this book--a decent enough guy gets caught up in a biker gang and ends up doing violence. After he testifies against his old club, he is put in the witness protection program. The Feds settle him a small Maine town as the owner of mystery bookstore. Of course, he is clueless when it comes to mystery books and about running a business.

He's doing his best to be just a regular guy, but he sees trouble at a local restaurant. Also, the townspeople are upset and worried about the previous owner of the bookstore. What happened to her? Could she be the woman whose body was found in a lake in New Hampshire? He can't help but get involved.

The whole setup offers us some fun scenes as Brody tries to fit in and act normal. But there's also good action as several people from different sectors of life begin to suspect that Brody isn't exactly who he says he is, and danger may be around the corner.

The story is an entertaining cozy mystery with good characters. I like that Brody may have ADHD or perhaps he's on the spectrum -- in either case, I love it that he knits to keep calm. The book ends with the promise of more Brody adventures, and I'm on board to read them all.

The audiobook was performed by Damon Abdallah, who did a really good job. Note that at first I was a little put off by his delivery, but I quickly got into Abdallah's portrayals and style. I sure hope he's the narrator for the rest of the series.

Audiobook in my personal library.

[Tinnean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is what you might call a clean book. No sex, no swearing, and no graphic violence. Generally, that isn't my cup of tea, but Cozy Up To Death was not condescending about avoiding those things. It was a real pleasure to read, and I absolutely loved Travis/Marlowe etc. etc. The cat got his name from whoever interacted with him at The Red Herring. (I do wonder who was feeding him, unless he had a way out of the bookstore and fended for himself.) Apparently it was a bookstore rule that whoever the cat deigned to approach got to call him something related to mysteries, (hence Travis for Travis McGee and Marlowe for Philip Marlowe.) And my, my, did that cat have a lot of names!

Beau/Brody, a bookkeeper (eraser) for the Satan's Dawgs motorcycle club, entered the witness protection program and became the "owner" of The Red Herring, a bookstore that only dealt in mysteries, in the small town of Pleasant Valley, Maine, the last place an outlaw motorcycle gang would think to look.

Things are never what they seem, and he finds himself liking the town and the people (one person in particular), as well as becoming curious about the whereabouts of Alice Walker, the previous owner of The Red Herring.

This was a fun read, and I enjoyed seeing how Brody defended himself against various baddies and explained his background to the townspeople--naval seaman to naval officer to SEAL. I'm looking forward to the next book. (And I wonder if Beau will change his name again. ;-) )

[David Mc · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who has long avoided “cozy” mysteries, I was amazed how much I enjoyed this one. The storyline follows Brody Steele, a former hardcore, outlaw-biker, who has been placed in a Witness Protection Program, where he becomes the ill-fitted owner of a laid-back bookstore in a tiny town off the coast of Maine. Despite clearly being a fish out of cold water in Pleasant Valley, Brody finds himself enjoying the neighborly greetings, friendly smiles, and simple lifestyle of a place reminiscent of Andy Griffith’s “Mayberry.” For that matter, the town’s sole policeman (who prefers being called “constable”) has all the traits of Griffith's sidekick, Barney Fife.

Despite the peaceful atmosphere of the town, a mystery slowly evolves regarding the disappearance of the beloved, former owner of the bookstore. This is followed by the arrival of a mafia kingpin, who opens an Italian Restaurant in town…which might be doing much more than simply cooking pasta. Amidst all of this is the ever-present slapstick comedy and dry humor that runs throughout the novel. In this regard, everyone seems to believe that Brody’s biker tattoos come from a background in the navy…which leads to some speculation that he must have been a Navy Seal who ran secret operations around the world.

All in all, this was a fun and enjoyable read. Although I would have like to tweak the ending of the novel, it definitely laid the groundwork for the next book in the series.

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brody Steele, the name sounds like a hero in a detective novel. Brody Steele, doesn’t read. Not since high school. So, how in the world did he end up being the owner of a mystery book store in a small town on the coast of Maine?

Brody has been put into the government’s witness protection program. He is in a small town where everyone knows everyone else. One of the things some people know is how to be friendly. Brody is not familiar with the idea of people smiling at him and saying hello.

Before he became Brody, he was in a violent motorcycle gang. He was called “the bookkeeper”. That means he kept things evenly balanced. If someone owed the gang for whatever reason, he collected what was due.

Now he has short hair, no beard and he dresses in khaki pants and plaid shirts. He is a new man.

This is a really fun book. Brody finding his way around town and around his new life is amusing. Brody is dealing with a killer cat who has many different names, a young woman who thinks dating him is a good idea, and then there are the mobsters in the restaurant around the corner.

I liked this book a great deal. I have found there are more chapters in this adventure. I need to look into that.