Gone With the Woodwinds

Music Shop Mysteries #4

by Jennifer Lamont Leo

January 1921 brings two arrivals to Timber Coulee, the Idaho All-State Music Competition, and a killer.
Amanda Parrish, proprietress of Mountain Melodies Music Shop and newly engaged to Sheriff James Holcomb, has pulled off a small coup for the local planning committee—convincing her old conservatory friend Professor Gerald Voss to come up from the University of Idaho to judge the woodwinds competition. Gerald arrives on the train charming, warm, and unchanged after twenty years. He is dead before the week is out.

Suspicion settles immediately on Amanda's co-manager, Callan MacTavish—a Scottish WWI veteran whose midnight walks and troubled silences make him an easy target. Amanda knows better. The clock is ticking on finding the real killer before they vanish forever...or strike again.

Between managing the competition, fending off the pointed observations of her future mother-in-law (a woman for whom the phrase glacially polite seems to have been coined), and coaxing testimony from the town's reclusive Norwegian hermit, Amanda must untangle a legal dispute that stretches back years—and make sense of obscure clues before the killer disappears into the winter dark.

This fourth book in the beloved Music Shop Mysteries series of historical cozy mysteries will appeal to fans of Rhys Bowen, Kate Khavari, and Sara Rosett.

187 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2026

About the author

**THANK YOU, dear readers, for all the great reviews, and for choosing Moondrop Miracle, You're the Cream in My Coffee and Ain't Misbehavin for your book clubs. You're the bee's knees!** Author of Moondrop Miracle, You're the Cream in My Coffee and Ain't Misbehavin'. With a passion for all things historical, Jennifer Lamont Leo captures readers' hearts through stories set in times gone by. She is also a copywriter, editor, and journalist. An Illinois native, she holds a deep affection for Chicago and its rich history. Today she writes from the mountains of northern Idaho, where she shares her home with her husband, two cats, and abundant wildlife. Visit her at A Sparkling Vintage Life (http://www.JenniferLamontLeo.com/blog), as well as on Facebook, Bookbub, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Reviews

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

🖍️ What a fun and adventurous mystery novel! I like the smooth writing style that kept the story moving along, the characters were interesting and I actually liked most of them (sorry, Dorothea), and the plot was tight. The vivid descriptions of cold Idaho winter were right on the money (I imagine), as the author shows readers the ice, snow, and bitter cold in that part of the country. As far as who committed the crime – I will say that I was surprised (a good thing!) The dialogues throughout the book were unique in that each character had his own “voice” and style of speaking, and each was believable in brogue, accent, and lilt. At the end of the story, in the section, Author’s Notes, we get some fleshing out of historical events and language that should help some readers become more familiar with the post-World War I world. Lastly, there is a section that educates readers on the music industry. Jennifer Lamont Leo did great work in researching to make this a truly believable mystery story.

Overall, this is a delightful cozy mystery that I’ll keep and re-read again when the weather is actually snowy and cold! Thank you!

જ⁀ 🟣 E-book version on Kindle.
༺༻🌹 ༺༻🌹 ༺༻🌹 ༺༻ 🌹 ༺༻🌹 ༺༻

[Diane Waldo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder and music

As an amateur musician, I enjoyed the details of the music competition. I have participated in similar events and hadn't thought about the work needed to organize them.

The book was well written and enjoyable. It was a little hard at first to keep track of all the characters since I haven't read the previous books in the series, but it didn't take long to get acquainted with everyone. This can be read as a stand-alone book without too much difficulty.

Now that I have discovered this author, I plan to go read her other works. She does a good job of capturing life as it was in an earlier era.

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story

Cute title, cute cover, excellent story. The events take place around a statewide music competition. You do not need to understand music to enjoy the story. Interesting characters and a plot not too complicated.