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Deadly Welcome: A Katie Drew Mystery
Fresh start, fresh coffee, and a fresh corpse on the sand.
One dead body, a runaway car, and a stray dog as my new best friend.
I came for peace, but trouble is baked into every scone at Perdido Beach.
I’m Katie Drew—recent grad, newly single, and accidental sleuth. I planned to heal my heart at my Aunt Nancy’s coffee shop, but crime stains the sunrise.
A killer is loose, the beach is buzzing with whispers, and the local police have more questions than coffee beans.
The whole town hides secrets behind sweet pastries, but I have sharp eyes and a sass that doesn’t quit.
My rescue dog, Daisy, is braver than most people, and some neighbors wish I’d disappear as fast as spilled milk on a hot day.
With every cup I pour, clues swirl, and gossip brews stronger than espresso.
The killer circles closer and the evidence points straight to the heart of my new home.
One wrong step and I could end up grounds for another mystery. I’m about to stir up Perdido Beach, and the truth will have to come out—one drip at a time.
One dead body, a runaway car, and a stray dog as my new best friend.
I came for peace, but trouble is baked into every scone at Perdido Beach.
I’m Katie Drew—recent grad, newly single, and accidental sleuth. I planned to heal my heart at my Aunt Nancy’s coffee shop, but crime stains the sunrise.
A killer is loose, the beach is buzzing with whispers, and the local police have more questions than coffee beans.
The whole town hides secrets behind sweet pastries, but I have sharp eyes and a sass that doesn’t quit.
My rescue dog, Daisy, is braver than most people, and some neighbors wish I’d disappear as fast as spilled milk on a hot day.
With every cup I pour, clues swirl, and gossip brews stronger than espresso.
The killer circles closer and the evidence points straight to the heart of my new home.
One wrong step and I could end up grounds for another mystery. I’m about to stir up Perdido Beach, and the truth will have to come out—one drip at a time.
45 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 19, 2025
1 person is currently reading
4 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 26, 2025
I liked this short, and quite light investigation about a murder in Perdido Beach.
Kate, after escaping a near-death experience in a car almost-crash (but her went crashing on the road's side), she gets adopted by this dog, Daisy (Kate named the dog like that) who apparently belonged to nobody, gets quickle to the bottom of all these strange happenings in their small village, some consisting in finding leftovers from that murder - of course Daisy gave a huge hand (paw) in these findings.
The ending seemed a bit rushed over, though. And pinpointing the killer (who turned to be an acidental killer, not something premeditated) was somehow all too sudden.
But it's definitelly worth watching for the following adventures of Katie and Daisy.
Kate, after escaping a near-death experience in a car almost-crash (but her went crashing on the road's side), she gets adopted by this dog, Daisy (Kate named the dog like that) who apparently belonged to nobody, gets quickle to the bottom of all these strange happenings in their small village, some consisting in finding leftovers from that murder - of course Daisy gave a huge hand (paw) in these findings.
The ending seemed a bit rushed over, though. And pinpointing the killer (who turned to be an acidental killer, not something premeditated) was somehow all too sudden.
But it's definitelly worth watching for the following adventures of Katie and Daisy.
October 10, 2025
Katie has arrived at Perdido Beach to live with her aunt Nancy and help her in the coffee shop. This sounds like a working holiday and poor Katie is certainly not expecting to be run off the road by a large black car as she arrives.
I have no idea where the car fits into it as we never hear about it again, and whether the driver had killed the store clerk during a robbery is not revealed. Katie has a damaged car stuck in a dune and she neither gets a garage to collect it nor looks up her insurance. I think abandoning a car is called dumping.
I'm therefore wondering if this was written by a teenager who has just a bare grasp of how the world works.
The dog which graces the cover, appears at the accident scene. Katie doesn't try to find its owner. She just decides it's her dog now. Maybe a vet could scan a microchip and find the owner, or a pet rescue centre can tell her it ran away or was abandoned. She never checks. This could be theft. The dog swaps from female to male to female to male during the story. And going by the cover image where can the dollar bill stick invisibly? It has short fur.
Daisy the dog sniffs out evidence a few times, but when the police officer asks Katie to hand over anything she found, she gives him one of the four items she found on three occasions. Why not tell him about the others? Katie has a phone, so why not photograph the items in place to prove where she found them? The police would have been collecting shop (and doorbell cam) CCTV footage from all around the small town to try to track suspicious movements. They would certainly not refuse to take it.
The end is a bit confusing but we can see Katie will be an asset to the locality.
I really wanted to love the story, the author's heart is in the right place, but I suggest they need to read a lot of procedural crime before writing more cosy crime. This is a light novella length mystery with a friendly atmosphere, just right for a break or a bus trip.
I read a free download via BookFunnel. This is an unbiased review.
I have no idea where the car fits into it as we never hear about it again, and whether the driver had killed the store clerk during a robbery is not revealed. Katie has a damaged car stuck in a dune and she neither gets a garage to collect it nor looks up her insurance. I think abandoning a car is called dumping.
I'm therefore wondering if this was written by a teenager who has just a bare grasp of how the world works.
The dog which graces the cover, appears at the accident scene. Katie doesn't try to find its owner. She just decides it's her dog now. Maybe a vet could scan a microchip and find the owner, or a pet rescue centre can tell her it ran away or was abandoned. She never checks. This could be theft. The dog swaps from female to male to female to male during the story. And going by the cover image where can the dollar bill stick invisibly? It has short fur.
Daisy the dog sniffs out evidence a few times, but when the police officer asks Katie to hand over anything she found, she gives him one of the four items she found on three occasions. Why not tell him about the others? Katie has a phone, so why not photograph the items in place to prove where she found them? The police would have been collecting shop (and doorbell cam) CCTV footage from all around the small town to try to track suspicious movements. They would certainly not refuse to take it.
The end is a bit confusing but we can see Katie will be an asset to the locality.
I really wanted to love the story, the author's heart is in the right place, but I suggest they need to read a lot of procedural crime before writing more cosy crime. This is a light novella length mystery with a friendly atmosphere, just right for a break or a bus trip.
I read a free download via BookFunnel. This is an unbiased review.
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November 13, 2025Deadly Welcome: A Katie Drew Mystery , my first enjoyable 90-Minute Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Short Read from author Paula Porter. What a great way to discover new authors with their short contributions. I purchased a $0.99 Kindle copy of A Pinch of Poison: A Katie Drew Cozy Mystery in October and as I researched the author & series I found this and one other book in the series now I'm reading them and voluntarily leaving a review. Iread the original Nancy Drew books 60-years ago after exhausting The Hardy Boys series. If you're unfamiliar with "Aunt Nancy" the original series was ghostwritten under the name of Carloyn Keene. Created by Edward Stratemeyer, the founder of the Hardy Boys series, the character first appeared in 1930 in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series and consisted of 175 novels. I look forward to reading A Pinch of Poison: A Katie Drew Cozy Mystery & Gone with the Salt Wind: a Katie Drew Mystery both high on my TBR list. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018.
October 31, 2025
Katie wrecks her car avoiding a black SUV that was probably involved in the murder of the clerk at the Beachcomber Liquor Store. A black dog part lab and part pit seems to adopt her at the accident scene, so she names her Daisy. Can Katie with Daisy's assistance figure out the clues they find to solve the murder? A great start to the Katie Drew mystery by Paula Porter.
September 24, 2025
Nice light characters and a good dog.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews