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Vivienne Finch Series #4
Trussed To Kill
With a very busy summer behind her, Vivienne Finch is looking forward to her first year hosting a small, yet tastefully elegant, Thanksgiving dinner. With the guest list topping out at four, she is confident she can pull off a beautiful occasion that would look worthy in any home entertaining magazine article.
Before she has even purchased her first bag of stuffing, her plans are turned upside down with the news that the Arkins family, a dozen strong, will be visiting Cayuga Cove for an unexpected family reunion. To make matters worse, the Brass Cricket Inn has no rooms to spare for the holiday, leaving Vivienne with a house full of guests to entertain for the long weekend. As pots simmer on the stovetops, tempers flare when dueling mothers each try to ensure that their familiar family traditions are carried out.
Yet, that is only the start to Vivienne’s troubles when the owner of Slate’s Pub & Grill is found dead in the establishment’s kitchen. Ghoulishly bound with cooking twine and stuffed head first into the gas oven, news of the murder spreads faster than butter on a hot dinner roll. An investigation soon reveals a cornucopia of illegal football gambling pools, personal grudges, and the inclusion of several of Joshua’s family members as possible suspects in the gruesome crime.
With the timer counting down to disaster, it will take all of Vivienne’s magical and sleuthing skills to stop a cunning killer who has placed murder on her exquisitely prepared holiday menu!
Before she has even purchased her first bag of stuffing, her plans are turned upside down with the news that the Arkins family, a dozen strong, will be visiting Cayuga Cove for an unexpected family reunion. To make matters worse, the Brass Cricket Inn has no rooms to spare for the holiday, leaving Vivienne with a house full of guests to entertain for the long weekend. As pots simmer on the stovetops, tempers flare when dueling mothers each try to ensure that their familiar family traditions are carried out.
Yet, that is only the start to Vivienne’s troubles when the owner of Slate’s Pub & Grill is found dead in the establishment’s kitchen. Ghoulishly bound with cooking twine and stuffed head first into the gas oven, news of the murder spreads faster than butter on a hot dinner roll. An investigation soon reveals a cornucopia of illegal football gambling pools, personal grudges, and the inclusion of several of Joshua’s family members as possible suspects in the gruesome crime.
With the timer counting down to disaster, it will take all of Vivienne’s magical and sleuthing skills to stop a cunning killer who has placed murder on her exquisitely prepared holiday menu!
319 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 31, 2016
4 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
J.D. Shaw
6 books17 followersJ.D. Shaw has always been drawn to the creative arts and all things spooky, even as a young child. Good grades eluded him in art class because no matter what the subject, he would always add a skeleton, pumpkin, witch, or bat into the mix. Why? Because he loved Halloween more than any other holiday and his mother has the picture of him at four years old kissing his carved pumpkin goodnight to prove it!
After high school, he attended community college for a business management program, but dropped out several weeks later when he found the drama club. He devoured every theatre and literature course the school offered, making Dean's list several times. But, it was a creative writing course that changed his fate. It was there, in a small classroom with about twenty students, where he finally figured out what it was he wanted to do. He was going to write books. Books with spooky things in them.
Upon his acceptance into the Odyssey Writing Workshop run by Jeanne Cavelos in the summer of 2008, he spent six weeks with the best authors and professionals in the business. He learned the art of how to tell not just a story, but a great story. He learned that the cozy mystery genre was his strength. A few years after the program, he had finally crafted his mystery series idea. The Vivienne Finch Magical Mysteries is the result of this hard work and he couldn't be more proud of the result.
He lives in Elmira, NY and is hard at work on the next book in the series.
After high school, he attended community college for a business management program, but dropped out several weeks later when he found the drama club. He devoured every theatre and literature course the school offered, making Dean's list several times. But, it was a creative writing course that changed his fate. It was there, in a small classroom with about twenty students, where he finally figured out what it was he wanted to do. He was going to write books. Books with spooky things in them.
Upon his acceptance into the Odyssey Writing Workshop run by Jeanne Cavelos in the summer of 2008, he spent six weeks with the best authors and professionals in the business. He learned the art of how to tell not just a story, but a great story. He learned that the cozy mystery genre was his strength. A few years after the program, he had finally crafted his mystery series idea. The Vivienne Finch Magical Mysteries is the result of this hard work and he couldn't be more proud of the result.
He lives in Elmira, NY and is hard at work on the next book in the series.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 5, 2018
? Ending ?
Please don't leave the story there, must find a way to get everyone back to there proper place. Have so loved the journey to here to have it ripped away at the end of the book.
Please don't leave the story there, must find a way to get everyone back to there proper place. Have so loved the journey to here to have it ripped away at the end of the book.
April 30, 2016
Really Mr. Shaw?
Really - give us a most descriptive look into Cayuga Cove? Make you feel like you are part of the community?
Really - continue the story and let us know the characters (and new ones) really well?
Really - write another page turner..where is this going..what is happening next?
Really - immersing us farther into their world?
Really - coming up with the most compelling story lines? (i'm beginning to be afraid of holidays actually)
Really - Um...Just Really???? When is the next book coming out?
Really.....can't wait for that to happen. No seriously, what do we have to do to make you write faster?
Really a big thanks for time spent in Cayuga Cove - May Vivienne and all go on for a very long time!
The books just get better and better!!!!
If you read books for the characters..you won't find any series better than this.
But Really???
By the way..don't start with this book if you are new to the series. Each builds on the other, so go back and start with Easy Bake Coven. Trust me..you won't be disappointed!
Really - give us a most descriptive look into Cayuga Cove? Make you feel like you are part of the community?
Really - continue the story and let us know the characters (and new ones) really well?
Really - write another page turner..where is this going..what is happening next?
Really - immersing us farther into their world?
Really - coming up with the most compelling story lines? (i'm beginning to be afraid of holidays actually)
Really - Um...Just Really???? When is the next book coming out?
Really.....can't wait for that to happen. No seriously, what do we have to do to make you write faster?
Really a big thanks for time spent in Cayuga Cove - May Vivienne and all go on for a very long time!
The books just get better and better!!!!
If you read books for the characters..you won't find any series better than this.
But Really???
By the way..don't start with this book if you are new to the series. Each builds on the other, so go back and start with Easy Bake Coven. Trust me..you won't be disappointed!
April 5, 2016
OMG!
I have been waiting so long for this book to come out & was thrilled to finally get to read it. We jump right in where the last book left off. Vivienne & Josh are engaged, Thanksgiving is coming soon, & business at the bakery is good. For most of the book Vivienne's magic is a very minor part of the story. We get to see relationships between friends & family grow & strengthen. It is only at the end that the magic comes full forward & completely & totally blows the reader away! I will say that the ending blew me apart & not in a good way either, but I will say that the author gave us rays of hope that I know will just make this all right in the next book. I just hope the next installment comes very very soon!!
I have been waiting so long for this book to come out & was thrilled to finally get to read it. We jump right in where the last book left off. Vivienne & Josh are engaged, Thanksgiving is coming soon, & business at the bakery is good. For most of the book Vivienne's magic is a very minor part of the story. We get to see relationships between friends & family grow & strengthen. It is only at the end that the magic comes full forward & completely & totally blows the reader away! I will say that the ending blew me apart & not in a good way either, but I will say that the author gave us rays of hope that I know will just make this all right in the next book. I just hope the next installment comes very very soon!!
July 1, 2018
Absolutely hated the ending!!!
A terrific read but you can't end it like this!! A family Thanksgiving dinner, a dead pub owner, time Reversal are all wrapped up into a great plot until the end. You simply cannot end it like this. It's all wrong!!! Read and see if you agree with me.
A terrific read but you can't end it like this!! A family Thanksgiving dinner, a dead pub owner, time Reversal are all wrapped up into a great plot until the end. You simply cannot end it like this. It's all wrong!!! Read and see if you agree with me.
May 4, 2016
My favorite so far of the series. Fast-paced, an easy read, and a wonderful twist that begs for more. Bring on book 5!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews