Stuck

by C.T. Collier

Meet the Penningtons: Lyssa, Ph.D. Economics, and her husband -the handsome Brit- Kyle, Ph.D. Computer Science. When their clever minds ask questions, clever killers can't hide. Murder never entered the picture until Fritz Van Derzee decided, at long last, to clear his name. Who stuck a jeweled stiletto into his desktop after stabbing him to death? Fritz's daughter, Emma, recruits her former professor Lyssa Pennington to find the killer. But where's the ten million Fritz was falsely accused of embezzling? Tompkins College President, Justin Cushman, hires his old friend Kyle Pennington to trace the missing money. While Lyssa uses charm and tenacity on the long list of suspects, Kyle reconstructs the college's old homegrown finance system. As they converge on the killer, Lyssa and Kyle may be the next two casualties.

Genres: Mystery

308 pages, Paperback

Published March 18, 2017

About the author

C T Collier grew up in Seneca Falls, NY, left the area for college and jobs, and always wanted to return to the Finger Lakes. After careers in high tech (networking software) and education (teaching and learning with technology), she lives today in a beautiful small city on one of the prettiest of the Finger Lakes, not unlike fictional Tompkins Falls on lovely Chestnut Lake. Most days you’ll find her writing in her tiny office looking out on a woods populated with fox, deer, wild turkeys, and songbirds. In her career as a tech-savvy college professor she has been endlessly fascinated with campus intrigue. Her mystery series The Penningtons Investigate revolves around Tompkins College, which is entirely fictional.

Author also writes the Lakeside Porches romances as Katie O’Boyle:
Facebook: katie.oboyle.author
Website: http://katieoboyle.com

Reviews

[books are love · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good easy fun read. It was one you just sit down and enjoy. You become a player in clue trying to figure out the pieces. But it doesn’t overwhelm or flummox you. It just has you wanting to be a part of solving the mystery.

Fritz truly wasn’t a nice man at times. He was very blunt and that offends people. I think he was just trying to help but was doing it the wrong way. this got him enemies and that made a long list of suspects when found dead.

Lyssa at times drove me nuts. She was so wanting to keep her future safe that the present sometimes became overshadowed. She is smart and sweet but just sometimes gets caught up with wanting security and forgets the present. Her security though becomes part of the present when her husband’s world inadvertently collides with what is going on around them. Lyssa is a economics professor who is lured into finding who killed Fritz. She is brought in and trying to figure out why he was set up. Who stole the college money and why? And believe you me that is one wild ride.

Meantime her sexy intelligent husband is helping the college figure out how the money was stolen and how much. While doing this he is trying to save his own company and figure out the extent of duplicity his ex employer did to the company, Kyle is great. He is patient and sweet. YOu see how much he loves Lyssa and wants to give her the world as well. He helps her to see that she needs to help their friends because it is the only way to be able to go forward and feel safe. They have a lot of danger around them and at times are at risk but you do see them as a team and work together to find out just who killed Fritz.

The story has twists and turns and so many suspects you have to start a board for them. And in the end it isn’t as it seemed. It was bigger than anyone imagined. You are kept on your toes but not in a creepy way just in gathering information and all that is going on. You are not ever put in a lull for CT Collier does a excellent job of giving tidbits of clues throughout and dispersing them in the story while danger lurks and life happens. Life and mystery intertwine in a seamless fashion and keeps you wanting to know more. A fun mystery that captures you from the beginning and puts you in the story wanting to solve it alongside Alyssa, her husband and friends.

[Ever Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book, I couldn't put it down. Everything from great characters who felt real to the setting and pacing.

The thing I was most happy with this time was the fact that the story seemed to really flow smoothly.
Humor along with mystery and intrigue really make for a wonderfully written and fun to read novel!

I was kept on my toes to the very end. I was invested in both the story as a whole as well as each and every character. There were surprises along the way that had me gasping out loud.

This is a novel that will leave you wanting more from the author.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 out of 5 stars rounded up.

This was a great read and tho' it didn't quite hit a "5" on my scale, it's a solid "4.5"! This book was a lot of fun for me. I had planned on reading the first book in the series before tackling this one, but life happened and that didn't. Thankfully, I didn't feel like I was missing a ton of important back story, maybe a little bit, but not too much.

I enjoyed the characters in this book. Lyssa and Kyle seem like people who I'd want to be friends with. They're intelligent, inquisitive and yet they seem down-to-earth and fun. There were a couple of times that I felt Lyssa was overreacting about something, but then again, I didn't read the escapades that happened in the first book, so perhaps she had reason. The supporting characters were great too.

The plot line moved along steadily and it kept me guessing right until the end. We all knew one of the villains, but I didn't see the other one coming until it happened at the end. I also enjoyed the side visits that the Penningtons made. I liked the blending of Kyle's business along with Lyssa's career at the college.  I really enjoyed their visit to Iceland and the time the book spent there.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I would definitely highly recommend this series to other cozy mystery enthusiasts!

[R.K. Emery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fast paced read that literally took only half a day to finish the story for me, I couldn't put it down.
Fun, addictive, and full of surprises. There wasn't any time to have my mind wandering. From the get go, there was lots of things happening at once. It was a full ride!

The writing style was simple and the narration was easy to follow. The imagery had me immersed in the mystery. The characters were rich and well portrayed. The smooth flow of the tale kept me stable even through the surprising twists and turns taken in the story.

I can say that the author has done a commendable job of writing a fantastic setting and a adventure rich story for mystery lovers.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Try as she might to resist the pull of getting dragged into another investigation, Lyssa Pennington finally lets herself be persuaded to help her former student, Emma, to clear her father’s name. After proclaiming his intent to prove himself innocent of embezzlement, Fritz Van Derzee ends up dead. Lyssa and her husband Kyle try to track down the missing funds, and find themselves in the line of fire. Lyssa and Kyle are a sweet couple, each with their own strengths, which makes them a good investigative team, and Stuck an enjoyable story.

Stuck is “The Penningtons Investigate” Book 2.

[Gina Stamper · Rating 5 out of 5]

C.T. Collier has great attention to detail and makes everything from the setting, to the characters feel very real. She has written a very compelling novel. The characters are so captivating and readers will be invested from the get-go.
There is so much more to this novel and it will keep you on your toes to the end. It makes for a wonderfully written and very suspenseful novel. Definitely fast paced and filled with surprising moments.

[Samantha Turley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Light and Fun, C.T. Collier’s novel Stuck will have readers captivated by her characters.
The characters are real and very well developed, they make it easy for you as the reader to be drawn into.
This novel was very easy to follow. There was something wonderful about how simple it was. I didn’t have to overthink things, but it kept me guessing enough in the mystery aspect.

[Cami Hensley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dive into a mystery with C.T. Collier.

I loved the balance between the lives and personalities of the characters and the mystery they were dealing with. There is a lot going on and the characters have a lot they have to get through while trying to uncover clues.

The mystery elements in these novels are always very well done. Collier creates scenarios that are not easy to unravel and keep you invested throughout the entirety of the novel. I don't want to be able to figure everything out too early in a novel, I want to be surprised.