Life in the Dead Lane

Secret Seal Isle Mysteries #2

by Lucy Quinn

All Cookie James, FBI agent and Innkeeper extraordinaire, wants is a romantic date with her hot handy man… but what she gets is a corpse presented with a big red bow. When she and Dylan discover a boat with a dead body, not only is her picnic ruined, but a woman from Dylan’s past returns to the island. The famous rock star appears to want a comeback tour with her former bodyguard. But Cookie doesn’t have time to worry about that, because her oh-so-sexy ex-FBI partner has arrived, too. And he’s ready to make a little music of his own. With an entangled love life, too much manscaping, and a songbird in trouble, it’s once again Cookie’s job to wrap up another murder.

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

228 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 13, 2016

About the author

Lucy Quinn is the brainchild of New York Times bestselling author Deanna Chase and USA Today bestselling author Violet Vaughn. Having met over a decade ago in a lampwork bead forum, the pair were first what they like to call “show wives” as they traveled the country together, selling their handmade glass beads. So when they both started writing fiction, it seemed only natural for the two friends to pair up with their hilarious, laugh-out-loud, cozy mysteries. At least they think so. Now they travel the country, meeting up in various cities to plan each new Lucy Quinn book while giggling madly at themselves and the ridiculous situations they force on their characters. They very much hope you enjoy them as much as they do.

Deanna Chase, is a native Californian, transplanted to the slower paced lifestyle of southeastern Louisiana. When she isn’t writing, she is often goofing off with her husband in New Orleans, playing with her two shih tzu dogs, or making glass beads.

Violet Vaughn lives in coastal New Hampshire where she spends most mornings in the woods with her dogs, summer at the ocean, and winters skiing in the mountains of Maine.

Reviews

[Sabine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great 2nd book in this series even though I did not quite as much enjoy it as the first one. But I will definitely read more.

[Lise · Rating 4 out of 5]

The waters surrounding Secret Seal Isle have proven to be treacherous again. Cookie and Dylan's second attempt at a picnic date come to an abrupt end when they encounter a seemingly abandoned boat bobbing in the channel between their island and Lookout Island. Of course, the boat owner is close by, but a little dead. Complicated by the arrival of a rockstar and Cookie's old FBI partner as well as an amorous coroner, the case takes several twists before it turns and the murderer is revealed.

While I loved most of the aspects of this story, the character of Rain is not one of them. She's ridiculous and displays behaviour that one would expect from a 6 year old. The woman has to be in her 50s, at least. Apart from this irritant, the story was not only very readable, but enjoyable too.

[Hanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a standard cozy mystery, but it was . . . not fantastic. Basically, an ex-FBI agent-turned-innkeeper is finding out who killed someone that she found while on a date. The mystery aspect in and of itself was fine, but the storyline itself just wasn't fantastic. I don't recall much of the storyline right now and I've practically just finished the book, so that give an idea of how memorable the story was. There was a lot of running around a small town and hunting for clues and listening to gossip, and of course, a lot of one-on-one time with SEVERAL hot men.

In addition, there was quite a bit of language and graphic detail, specifically about men (i.e. SEVERAL mentions of DIFFERENT people's dicks? and also the mom was strangely invested in her daughter having s*x, and at one point said something like "if you're not gonna go to bed with him I'll bring him to bed" like wtf)

Have I learned my lesson about free kindle suspense books? yes. Am I going to be enticed by them in the future again? also yes.

[SuperMommy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great fun ready by Lucy Quinn in her Secret Seal Isle Mysteries series. Cookie and Hunter are at it once again to solve another mystery. Rain continues to be quirky and amusing with her outrageous behavior. Completely did not see the reason for the drama in the story until the end. I enjoyed the surprise. If you're wondering if Cookie is any closer to determining if Hunter or Dylan is the man for her....you'll have to read the story to find out :)

[Sandee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A typical cozy with a love triangle. Cookie is a likeable character as are most of the other characters in this book. I still don't find her Mom funny - just annoying. The mystery is interesting and kept my attention throughout the book. I do wish the love triangle would progress a little bit faster though.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute Series!

What's not to love?! An adorable island with colorful characters, a who done it mystery and two handsome men vying for the girl.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cookie James is going on a date with Dylan, out on the water in his boat. They come across another boat that appears to have been left abandoned in the middle of the channel. Only the boat is not abandoned, it's sole occupant is very dead. This winds up being the brother of a famous singer who is being forced to do some things to keep her secret secret.
The local sheriff calls in Hunter, Cookie's former FBI partner to assist in the investigation as her department does not have that much experience with murders.

Lucy Quinn wrote a fun mystery with solid characters, and a strong plot line. There is a good bit of intrigue along with some humor. I was really sorry to see the story end, and will be getting the next one in the series.

[Zae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok. So I guess this will be a spoiler. There's no murder nor mystery. Sorry.

There is a horribly written "love triangle" if you can even call it that. I normally give writers leeway if this is their first book, but this is the second book, so corrections should have been done.

Cookie is very thirsty. She is constantly looking for compliments from her ex-partner, Hunter, but then she doesn't like the pathologist taking an interest in her. He must be ugly.

The mother, Rain. She behaves as if she is a 16 year old. She is always trying to get someone to look in her pants. She is also scared of the police which is odd since her daughter was an FBI agent. Did she miss that part? I don't get it. Someone help me out.

This could be an actual spoiler, When Cookie comes back into the B&B after finding there was no murder, she finds Rain crying. Rain was almost inconsolable.

If you were thinking Hailey was dead, you would be wrong. Very wrong!! I mean, yes, that is what normally people would think if they found their mother crying their eyes out, who normally doesn't bat a lash at things. But Lucy Quinn decided that would not do, so what really happened was this:

Apparently Hayley wasn't happy (not like her brother just died or anything), so Rain offers her an edible and she turns it down. Not one to accept a no to drugs, she sneaks it into the singer's bag only to find that there was a lot of money in the backpack she was carrying, "like drug dealer -esque money." If that wasn't enough, the singer accidently dropped her cellphone. Rain is so incredibly torn up about that she can't get the words out when asked what was wrong. Seriously!

How will Rain go on knowing that Hayley (who is incredibly rich and famous) has money stacks in her bag and no phone??? Oh the humanity!

Since there was no murder, there had to be something else, so she shoehorned a blackmail scheme into the ending by characters that never made it into the story before hand.

I can't say that I will listen to another one her books. The story is slow the plot is loose. It is a wanna be romance novel with a possible mystery, except there isn't one. Of either.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughts: I did like book one slightly more than this one. This had the typical love triangle thing I hated with Cookie going back and forth between Dylan and Hunter. It got to be a little much. This one had less bantering between the men, which I found so entertaining in book 1. Personally I like her with Hunter because they make a great team and have mad chemistry, but she was determined to give Dylan a shot, which I wasn’t a fan of.

At first I did feel like the murder mystery was a little anticlimactic with the reveal, but then there was a twist that added excitement, thrill and suspense that made me less disappointed in the murder mystery. I actually liked the twist better than the whole murder mystery plot.

Overall, it was a good read. I was entertained by most of it. I liked the pacing. I love Hunter and Cookie as they worked the case. I think her mother’s hilarious. I enjoyed myself while reading it.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life in the Dead Lane

Cookie is intended to go for a picnic with one of her favorite guys but half way there they discover a body and things really get turned around once again. Some of the same great caracters and a few new gives another fabulous cozey murder mystery in this series a reason to celibrate , give ourselves a the pleasure of enjoying the writing skills of Lucy Quinn in the "Secret Seal Isle Mysteries"book two "Life in the Dead Lane" aquier a copy and start enjoying it as much as I have. ☺😮🤔🙄 Kat

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This is a fun cozy mystery. I enjoyed the mystery aspect of the story. This part of the story is more what I’m looking for in terms of the sleuth figuring out the puzzle instead of it falling into their lap. Cookie played a major role in solving the mystery and that made the read all the better. The romance aspect of the story I’m not fond of. The secondary characters – including Cookie’s mom – add entertainment to the story and lightness that I enjoy. Overall a entertaining read.

I enjoyed the audio version of this book and the narrator.

[Anne G. Kasaba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining read that had some laughable moments. The mystery was interesting and the characters have memorable personalities.

Cookie moved to the island to lay low and avoid having the mob come after her and those she loves. Unfortunately Murder seems to follow this on leave FBI agent. Her ex-partner comes through with help when she needs him but this isn’t the inn keeper life she was expecting!

[Jana Gundy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining

The story was a good read, definitely kept me entertained. Cookie is a complex character that has a lot of story to explore, her mother is something else and she has two men she goes back and forth on. The romance part is very awkward and it’s hard to get a read on what one is really doing or thinking but I expect to get more clarity in the next books.

[Annette Sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terrible proof reading

Yes this story all the way through had terrible proof reading, it made it hard to work out what was being said at times. Would and wouldn’t were mixed up for example and names swapped around. It was an easy read, a no brainer really, made a lot worse by the above. Won’t be reading any more.

[Denota · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a well planned story.

This book would have gotten 5 solid stars but for the pages of flirting. Once she got to the mystery solving it was perfect. The plot was well thought out and the out come not at all expected. The story continued to reveal more details . Good job. I am off of snatch the next book in the series. Juju

[Reagan Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny 3.5 stars

Definitely more of an adult cozy with some profanity, adult themes, and marijuana use. The mystery is clever. I haven’t read any other books in the series, so cannot compare it to the rest of the series. A few typos and grammatical errors were missed in editing.

[Leona zanata · Rating 2 out of 5]

Murder in the isle

I am just not into "romance" / mystery novels. Too many " glistening" male shirtless descriptions. I don't need bathroom visuals. They don't add anything to the story line. In my opinion, the book would deserve another star or so without these. Perhaps this book is better suited to those who enjoy Harrlequin novels.

[Ted Bun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice idea .... lady ex-FBI agent in hiding trying to build a new life.
Fancies the local handyman with a mysterious past
Her wacky mother trips over a dead body
Lady Agent has to get involved and ex-partner turns up.
Lady Agent is torn between two wannabe lovers

Just a little soggy in delivery

Yep just like book 1

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the series. The love-triangle is old already. Cookie needs pick one & move on. I listened to an audio version from Chirp.

The story itself wasn't bad.

I still do not care for Cookie’s mother. She is a lost over sexed, non-filtered child of the sixties.
I would not recommend this for young readers, there is foul language.

[Holly Lenz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Life in the Dead Lane is the second book in this cute series about an ex-FBI agent hiding from the mob on an island with her hippy mother. It’s a silly mystery about a naked corpse on a boat and his country star of a sister. Not something to think too hard about, but it is fun. Lots of references to sex and drugs, so not for the kids. The audiobook narrator does a good job.

[Sonjie Outlaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

From F B I to a B and B

Cookie and her mother Rain buys a B and B on Secret Seal Island. When her x partner shows up, an x F B I agent. Things start to happen. Good book, keeps your interest.

[Amy Webster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read, easy to get into the story. The characters are pretty much believable didn't run around doing too many things that were illegal or really stupid. Loved the supporting cast of characters as well.

[Laura Doty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced, fun cozy.

Enjoyed the premise and the delima that Cookie has about the men in herlife. Her Mama is a "kick" but just a bit over the top for a person of her age.
Hope Cookie can solve the man delima soon.

[marcia mccoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent

Anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries will like this book. It's a little less cozy than most since the main character is trained as an investigator. Fun read. Love the hippie mom, Rain!

[Joni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done Ms Quinn

I missed book 1 but felt right at home in book 2. I love beach/sea mysteries. This one had intrigue, humor, romance and a mom named “Rain”. What else do you need? Can’t wait to read book 3.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun Cozy

A fun read and a good beginning for a potential series. All the standard elements build a rather predictable story, but it is a bit better than expected. The hippie mother is a hoot!

[Connie G. Lyke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable

Easy reading. Nice mystery with an unexpected twist near the end. Perfect read for a pandemic afternoon. The mother, Rain, and her friend, Winter, both old hippies, were characters that added an unusual aspect.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book better than the first one. It was just a little more interesting and the story was a little more involved. These are fun books that are just not really too in depth but also not dumb. I enjoyed them.

[Andre Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cosy read from Lucy Quinn taking us through another crime to solve with the assistance of the crew on Secret Seal Isle. Like the first in series the story has the twists and turns and a great surprise at the end. Recommended and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun read in the Secret Seal Isle mystery series. Ex FBI agent Cookie James finds another body while heading out for a picnic with her gorgeous handyman Dylan. Her ex-partner, Hunter, is called in by local police to help solve the murder.