Edisto Jinx

The Edisto Island Mysteries #2

by C. Hope Clark

“A phenomenal read.”—Sharon Sala, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author

Is it a flesh and blood killer—or restless spirits?

According to Sophie the psychic, beautiful Edisto Beach becomes a hotbed of troublemaking spirits every August. But when a visitor dies mysteriously during a beach house party, former big-city detective Callie Morgan and Edisto Beach police chief Mike Seabrook hunt for motives and suspects among the living. With tourists filling the beaches and local business owners anxious to squelch rumors of a murderer on the loose, Callie will need all the help she can get—especially once the killer’s attention turns toward her.

Edisto Jinx is a phenomenal read from beginning to end. The psychological twists are as intriguing as the vivid imagery of Ms. Clark's writing. From characters with just the right amount of flaws to make them realistic, to the eerie peek into a madman's mind, it is a gem of a story I didn't want to end.—Sharon Sala, author of Cold Hearts , book two of the Secrets and Lies trilogy. August 2015 from Mira Books

Edisto Jinx has everything you want in a good island sand, food, drinks, people you care about, beautiful sunsets, secrets, murder, and page-turning suspense. C. Hope Clark took me to one of the most unspoiled South Carolina islands and gave me plenty of reasons to want to stay with Callie Morgan and a richly drawn cast of beach-town regulars. Pull up a beach chair, dip your toes in the gentle waves, and enjoy!—Cathy Pickens, author of the Southern Fried mysteries and Charleston Ghostly Haunts in the Holy City

C. Hope Clark is the award-winning author of the Carolina Slade Mysteries and now the Edisto Island Mysteries . During her career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she met and married a federal agent—now a private investigator. Together they plot murder mysteries at their lakeside home in South Carolina. Visit Hope at

Genres: Mystery, Southern, Suspense, Murder Mystery, Fiction

268 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2015

About the author

C. Hope Clark was born and reared in the South, from Mississippi to South Carolina with a few stints in Alabama and Georgia. The granddaughter of a Mississippi cotton farmer, Hope holds a B.S. in Agriculture with honors from Clemson University and 25 years’ experience with the U. S. Department of Agriculture to include awards for her management, all of which enable her to talk the talk of Carolina Slade, the protagonist in most of her novels. Her love of writing, however, carried her up the ranks to the ability to retire young, and she left USDA to pen her stories and freelance.

Lowcountry Bribe‘s won several awards to include finalist status of the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense sponsored by Romance Writers of America. The novel enjoyed semi-finalist status (top 100 out of 10,000) in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest. The book went on to win the Silver Falchion Award for Crime Fiction twice and the EPIC E-book Award for Best Mystery three times.

Her books cover three mystery series in the Carolina Slade Mysteries, the Edisto Island Mysteries, and the Craven County Mysteries.

Hope is married to a 30-year veteran of federal law enforcement, a Senior Special Agent, now a contract investigator. They met on a bribery investigation within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the basis for the opening scene to Lowcountry Bribe. Hope and her special agent live on the rural banks of Lake Murray outside of Chapin, South Carolina, forever spinning tales on their back porch, bourbon and coke in hand, when not tending a loveable flock of hens.

She also currently manages FundsforWriters.com, a weekly newsletter service she founded that reaches 28,000 writers to include university professors, professional journalists and published mystery authors. Writer’s Digest has recognized the site in its annual 101 Best Web Sites for Writers for two dozen years.

She’s published in The Writer Magazine, Writer’s Digest, and other trade and online publications. She speaks at writers’ conferences, book clubs, libraries and more, and has taught many webinars for the Writer's Digest University world. Hope is a member of Mystery Writers of America.

Reviews

[Esther Bradley-detally · Rating 5 out of 5]

C. Hope Clark’s Edisto Jinx is a mystery of seamless twists and turns, with prose sharp, clear, crisp and sure of itself. I ignored the call of ten books piled up on a chair to read, ignored the call of social media, and I carved out two long sessions to inhale this delightful story. Clark is a fun and bright story teller.

The author had me on the first two sentences in the book, “CALLIE STUDIED all the tanned visitors with drinks in their hands. The last time she attended a beach house party she killed the host, earning somewhat of a reputation in the South Carolina community of Edisto Beach.

A low key romp runs through this story, humming and thumping, and I found myself greedy for the next word, the next scene. It is fast paced and fascinating. She captures contemporary beach culture with flat-on awareness. Her descriptions are spunky as Callie describes herself, “Her life seemed a combination of fate and what she scrapped out of it.”

I loved the characters, beginning with Callie herself, and I tumbled immediately into the world of Edisto, with Callie being on the edge of frumpy and quick minded. The story is tight and scenes slide “And then what happens” moments seem like butter on a hot skillet. Callie is tough, bright, and feminine, a little frayed around the edges, with a tongue-licking inclination towards the drink. All the while our heroine, a former detective, survived the death of a beloved husband, and an attempted murder by a stalker. Her son Ben is approaching manhood, and they have settling into a new life in The Edisto beach community away from familiar urban living in Boston. Callie is middle aged, on the edge of getting older, has begun a low slung relationship with the local acting police chief, a best friend who deals in relationships with spirits, and she’s a detective par excellence. I loved the delicacy of her vulnerability, her strong and then shaky past, but mostly I loved reading about a serial murderer amongst the summer crowd, and Callie’s astute search and determination to solve a ten year period every August of unexplained murders. I whipped through each page totally immersed in a spinning top of a plot.

Normally I don’t read mysteries. Now and then one appears, and I settle in for a don’t- put-the-book down read. Now I’m hooked. Time to hit the library and look for more of C. Hope Clark’s books. I even found out Edisto was a real place. An intense and enjoyable read!

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many things to love about C. Hope Clark's writing, and I will leave the elements of a great mystery to those reviewers who read mysteries on the regular, which I do not. What I want to celebrate are two things Clark does well: strong female characters, and also a clever use of current social media to make the mystery even more intriguing. I want to avoid spoilers, so let's just say that the party, the Millennial journalist, and the use of Twitter to complicate the suspense was really clever. I also liked how Callie, the protagonist, eventually mastered the Millennial obsessed with infotainment and the scoop at the expense of human life.

Clark is a savvy author with a sense of both intensity and fun. She creates characters who are driven while also conscious of their flaws, allowing the very human aspects to drive the story as much as the complex plot. Well done, once again, and I'm sure I'll get the next in the series!

[Delores · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a little bit of just about everything in Edisto Jinx: murder, mayhem, paranormal interest, and quiet walks along the beach. There’s also a hint of romance thrown in for good measure.
We join Callie Morgan on Edisto Island, a quiet little seaside town where she spent summers as a kid. We met her first in Murder on Edisto, and there are memory tidbits that remind us of the first book in the series. This is easily a stand-alone novel…but you’ll probably want to go back and find out more about Callie’s history.
The cast of characters are varied and well rounded. The list of suspects grows as the story moves along. You think “Oh, he did it….no, wait, maybe she did it…”and the pendulum of possibilities swings widely throughout the investigations. When the killer is revealed, it’s a surprise.
C. Hope Clark has given us realistic characters and a pleasant community to live in for a while. The only drawback about Edisto Jinx is that it’s difficult to put it down. You’ll want to keep on reading.

[Rosanne Catalano · Rating 5 out of 5]

C Hope Clark does it again! EDISTO JINX is an excellent crime mystery that kept me up all night till the end of its pages. I still have all the characters in her latest novel in my head... wondering what will happen to them in the next book. Not going to give the ending of EDISTO JINX away but I do want to know how Callie Jean Morgan, main character, fulfills her new job on Edisto Island. :-) This novel gets a well deserved five-star rating, as does all of C Hope Clark's mysteries! I cannot wait to read her next novel... C Hope Clark is an fantastic writer.

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, C. Hope Clark goes head first into the action and delivers a tale that makes you feel like you are right there on Edisto. The story flows quickly, but doesn't reveal too many details too soon. This is a perfectly paced Southern Mystery with unexpected twists that fit into place perfectly. Like the first book in the series, there are no easy answers or obvious plot points. I was looking for suspects and trying to piece together clues constantly. I figured things out right along with Callie.

C. Hope Clark's prose puts a reader right into the location. The venues are described so well that all of my senses were invoked. I could feel the hot breeze, smell the salty air, hear the leaves rustling, see the colors of the sunset sky, etc. When Callie stepped out on her porch I felt like I was right there with a cold drink listening to Neil Diamond records.

The characters are interesting and so well developed that they feel like family and friends. I experienced the same emotions that I get when things happen to my real life family and friends. I laugh when they laugh. I cry when they cry. I worry when they worry. I am scared when they are scared.

Now I am off to read the next book in the series.

[Mary Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like this novel as much as I did Murder on Edisto, the first book in this series. I find Callie Monroe hard to take because she has so many negative things to say about the police on Edisto Island and actually thinks she is the best and most capable person of finding the killer because she was once a detective in the North. She is constantly pulling Mike's chains, and I really don't know why he continues to court her. The writing is good; it's the main character that I have a problem with. I used to go to Edisto at least once a year; it is known as a fossil beach because of the treasures the sea leaves behind after a high tide. I will try one more book in this series and hope it is better than this one.

[Cindy Huff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jinx or No Jinx C. Hope Clark’s new Mystery A Winner

C Hope Clark captured my attention again as I entered the world of Edisto Jinx. The residence of Edisto Beach welcomed me into the dilemma surrounding the death of Brea Jamison. Callie Morgan, Ex Boston Detective, investigative instincts kick in and stir up more than the residence of this tiny island want to deal with. A serial killer is on the loose but no one believes Callie.
August is a busy tourist season on Edisto Island, add a few spirts tormenting Callie’s neighbor Sophia and some dirty laundry from other neighbors past and the story just keeps getting better.
I appreciated the broken hero that is Callie Morgan. I watched her begin to heal amidst the drama in the first book in the series Murder on Edisto. Now a few months later Callie continues to struggle, grow and find herself again. C Hope Clark settings are so believable even though I have no idea what a Palmetto looks like. I felt the heat and the sea breezes. I walked with Callie in the blackness of the moonless night at the climax as she confronts the villain. That was a definite-don’t anyone interrupt me moment.
Rich settings, interesting characters and unexpected twists. The use of tweeter was both surprising and brilliant. I felt Callie’s story could end here and I would be content. But then again surely there are more secrets to unfold on the Edisto Beach. Looking forward to more books by Hope.

[Courtney Mroch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an ok cozy. The writing was crisp, the characters were well developed, the plot was interesting but overall the story was a little slow. Until about three quarters of the way into the book when the suspense picked up in a big way. It got very exciting and was a true page-turner for about 20 pages. The biggest thing I had a hard time with was the main character, Callie. She was a hard pill to swallow and got on my nerves. Throughout the majority of the book I kept thinking, "She really needs to get over herself." If I could give 3 1/2 stars that would be my true rating. The reasons I didn't bounce it up to a 4 rating and instead went with the 3 were because (1) of the annoyance factor, (2) I figured out the killer early on and the reveal was no surprise (although the reason the killer turned homicidal was nicely tied-in and explained), and (3) I wouldn't continue with this series. Callie isn't someone I'd want to spend time with any further.

[Bonnie Tharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edisto Jinx is another great read by @C.Hope Clark. If you love #mystery, set on the beach, with interesting characters - then you will enjoy this book as much as I did. #Readers #bookreview

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edisto Jinx is the second book in C. Hope Clark's Edisto Island mystery series.

The book opens at an island get-together hosted by a local realtor to snag new clients. Mingling with the vacationers who like to attend such events, our heroine Callie Morgan meets a beautiful visitor named Brea. The two strike up an amiable conversation; minutes later, Brea lies dead on the floor, causing much screaming and the rapid evacuation of party-going guests.

Then, the notion of an isolated incident takes a turn when Sophie, Callie's friend and local mystic, declares, "It's the jinx." What jinx?

Every August for the past five years, a young and beautiful woman has died on the island. The deaths seem ordinary enough...a drowning here, a fall there...but for Callie, a former homicide detective, there's no such thing as a coincidence. The notion tugs at Callie: is this death by misadventure, or is Brea the sixth victim of the so-called jinx? And if it's not the jinx, is another woman scheduled to die?

Edisto Jinx is a very good read. I sometimes got bogged down in the plethora of characters. Half the island had at least a walk-on in this novel, and it was difficult to keep track of them all. However, I do enjoy the South Carolina beach setting, and have become a follower of Callie's personal struggles. In an effective nod to the Twitter phenomenon, both a local news hound and a more sinister presence invade Callie's space and peace of mind with endless tweets, which although they are annoying eventually help solve the mystery.

[Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edisto Jinx
Some books I want to rush through, so I can get to an author or style I want to read more. And then there are some books I want to savor so I can really pay attention to the twists and turns, or admire the deep characterization, and all the twists and turns you hope for in a good book. C. Hope Clark's Edisto Jinx, part of her Edisto Beach mystery series has all that and more. Another sign of a good book is when the characters like, Hope Clark's Callie Morgan, live inside you a long time after you have finished reading.
Edisto Jinx was one of those books you can't wait to get home to and curl up with. I felt the frustration of Callie trying to make members of law enforcement (of which she was once fully a part of in her role as a Boston police detective), friends, and her treasured son believe that there in what seemed like a coincidental series of deaths that there could be a connection and a serial, antagonistic murderer on the loose.
Hope Clark's novel takes you into Callie's world of loss, impetuousness, and her struggles and sometimes denial, with alcohol. But there are no hard and fast answers to anything. Callie's intuition, relative calm under pressure, and skill at detecting make this a novel of many different layers and emotions. You will want to savor Edisto Jinx as well.

[Teresa LaBella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bad things happen to good people in peaceful places. Not once. Or twice. But six times in August on Edisto Island.

Childhood tourist and recent resident Callie Jean Morgan can't leave her big city detective life behind when a young woman she just met dies at a party hosted by a realtor intent on keeping the summer season rental revenue rolling in like waves on the beach. Callie's quirky next door neighbor Sophie's connections in the spirit world throttle up, the jinx buzz talk spreads on Twitter feeds, and Callie becomes convinced that the same-time-each-year deaths of profiled women are not the case closed accidents that Acting Police Chief Mike Seabrook insists they are. Her investigation introduces Callie to a cast of intriguing characters, from amateur sleuths bored with two weeks of solitary summer pleasures to an ambitious online journalist and a killer hiding behind a hashtag.

C. Hope Clark's near flawless writing ratchets up character development to a fine literary art. Callie's tragic history of personal loss and the residual effects carry over from "Murder on Edisto," the first book in the Edisto Island Mysteries series. The forces in "Edisto Jinx" push Callie to take a long look in the mirror and choose her what's next. Her choice could have ended the series. But it didn't. As crime novelist extraordinaire Mickey Spillane once said, "the first page sells the book. The last page sells the next book." On to Book 3.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished my first C. Hope Clark book, Edisto Jinx. I realize it is the second in the series, but I chose not to backtrack and read the first book first. It's interesting to learn if an author's second book in a series can stand alone. Clark's Edisto Jinx passed the test!

Though it took a few chapters to catch up with the characters, I think reading it as a stand alone allowed me to appreciate the story as an Edisto tourist. I didn't know Callie's Boston background or any of the other characters' history, so I didn't have any baggage clouding my experience. I got to know Callie in her broken state which says so much about a character. Clark put the reader right there in Callie's personal struggle making her more relateable to anyone who's faced difficulties in their lives.

Clark engulfed me in her community. From the smell of the shrimp to the warm winds blowing over the beaches, I experienced Edisto. Throw in a jinx, a few murders, and an eccentric yoga teacher talking about the spirits stirring, and I knew I had to find out what happened next. Edisto Jinx had just enough twists to keep me sleuthing. I'm looking forward to reading another of C. Hope Clark's books. I'm starting with the first in the series this time, Lowcountry Bribe.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 2 does not disappoint. There is a death right away that Callie believes is a murder even though others think it was just an accident because Brea ate something at the party that she was allergic to.
With a bit of exploring Callie learns that there are have suspicious deaths each August for several years. Some call it the Edisto Jinx. It turns out that the deaths were always females with like features everytime and took place within a two week window each year.

Callie was an excellent detective back in New Jersey and just can't help snooping around and asking questions. She is the main character of the book, but my favorite character is her neighbor and friend Sophie who is a tiny, but an extremely fit yoga teacher with a bunch of quirky habits and ideas. She even sees spirits.

I'm looking forward to more of this series. If you like books about South Carolina or you like crime/mysteries - this series is great!

[Diva Jefferson · Rating 5 out of 5]

C. Hope Clark did it again. I couldn't put this book down. I loved the plot, the characters, the scenery, everything was so beautifully crafted. As a person who doesn't like the beach, but grew up 30 minutes from one, I felt like I was walking the sand beside Callie Morgan. I loved this book. The writing was superb. The action was well orchestrated and there was hardly any downtime in the book. It wasn't boring at all. The mystery was on point. I couldn't guess the killer at all! This is a great book and I can't wait to read the next one in the series!

[Beverly Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Clark's books are always easy, uncomplicated books to read. Yet she always crafts a mystery with enough suspects and twists and turns to keep me guessing. When I read the first in this series, I was somewhat disappointed that I couldn't really decide if I liked Callie or not. She seemed like wreck going somewhere to happen. But this time, she seems more settled, more well rounded, more like someone I would find interesting.

Will look forward to reading the third book in this series.

And I have to admit, these books make me want to visit Edisto.

[Jim Great Elk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tangueray, with a twist

Hard to put down, easy to return to Edisto Island through the eyes of Callie. Broken and at frayed ends, she finds her stride again buried in her investigative training. Was it as jinx? There were deaths that no one wanted to admit were murders… except Callie, and she had doubts, professionally and personally.

Seldom have I read into daybreak, but C. Hope Clark forced this twice upon me.

The best in her series, so far.
Read it yourself… into the late night!

[Linda Bittle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better than the first in the series

The first book, "Murder on Edisto" was a perfectly good novel, but I thought that the main character was more engaging in this one. The island and its inhabitants came more fully alive for me this time around. I especially liked that I didn't figure out who the killer was until it was revealed. I look forward to the next one!

[Pandora · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked Edisto Jinx by C. Hope Clark. I thought Callie was a very well-thought out character. The island was also well-portrayed through the eyes of the characters. Sophie is pretty cool, too. I would definitely recommend if you like suspense, fun, and some mysticism thrown in for good measure in your books. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

[Sheri McGuinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second in the series and I'm hooked. Callie's pulling herself together - a much stronger person now and becoming part of the commmunity. Clark does a masterful job of creating a real small town, with all it's quirks and characters and history, and layers on a pulse-pounding threat that kept me turning the pages.

[Sherrie Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Callie is finally settling into life on Edisto, but after witnessing a death at a party, talk begins of the August Jinx. The jinx, going back several years is actually deaths of women, who look alike, all happening around the same time every year. Callie is sure it's a serial killer, but she's being gaslighted by everyone around her. It's a thrilling chase to the end.

[June Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

slow go, but exciting in the end!

I love a mystery series and especially one set in Edisto Island, my not far from home SC shangrila.
The first two books have been slow reads for me, but that might be my own fault.
I do love reading fiction in a place I am settling into, so in the end I love the book.

[Kynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this story! The character interactions are great. Love how Callie found strength through her convictions. Love Sophie! I really like the character of Sophie, with all her magical ways, she proves how much her spiritual insight is a force not readily accepted by many. Callie is an interesting and strong woman, yet riddled with past unresolved issues she works hard to figure out. I love Seabrook in his often quiet way. I love how the characters of Edisto are slowing knitted together through jealousy, suspect and interest, and how sometimes, what you thought you knew is quickly unraveled as the story moves along.

[Paul Atreides · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick, fun read. Hope's books are always an enjoyable escape.

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it

I love this series. We have been going to Edisto for over 30 years. We love it. I love reading the stories and visualizing all the places named it the books.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed .. I’ve been to Edisto, this was a weak mystery ... sort of trying to be a native edistonian, yet, trying to be something else...not a satisfying plot ..

[Rebecca Wedde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book that is amazing. Holds your attention. Callie is always up to something. I can't wait to see what's next.

[Lyn Soulia-Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book with a good story line. Seem to take a while to get to the plot. Good ending

[Lydia]

ONE OF MY FAVORITES OF HERS' THUS FAR! VERY EXCITING, EVENT FILLED

[Sonee Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why is it that people keep getting murdered at beach parties?? This one kept me on the edge of my seat. I already started the next one in the series.