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Found Key
Ginny Dove, a military widow, runs the Paisley Apron Diner in the small town of Sweet Springs, Virginia, located amid the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains. She’s drawn into a homicide investigation when the young schoolteacher Ellie Blackburn is found slain on Pilgrims’ Knob, which Ginny owns. Along with her patient mother Marge and her irrepressible Aunt Cricket, Ginny sets out to learn what happened to Ellie. Acting Sheriff Roosevelt Baker soon comes to depend on Ginny’s sleuthing smarts and practical ideas to ferret out the right clues leading them to identify three murder suspects. When not operating the town diner and playing amateur sleuth, Ginny raises her rambunctious seven-year-old son Boone and begins her promising romance with Roosevelt. While searching to find the “key” to solve Ellie’s murder mystery and return harmony to Sweet Springs, Ginny also discovers a few personal things about herself. Mystery fans of Nevada Barr as well as Jim and Joyce Laverne will enjoy the humor, setting, and compassion found in the Ginny Dove Cozy Mystery Series.
- GenresMystery
157 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 30, 2018
4 people are currently reading
229 people want to read
About the author
Lea Charles
3 books183 followersLea Charles lives in Virginia, owns a rescue tuxedo cat, and writes cozy mysteries, including the Ginny Dove Cozy Mystery Series.
Ginny Dove, a military widow, runs the Paisley Apron Diner in the small town of Sweet Springs, Virginia, located amid the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains. Acting Sheriff Roosevelt Baker soon comes to depend on Ginny’s sleuthing smarts and practical ideas to ferret out the right clues. When not operating the town diner and playing amateur sleuth, Ginny raises her rambunctious seven-year-old son Boone and begins her promising romance with Roosevelt. Mystery fans of Nevada Barr as well as Jim and Joyce Laverne will enjoy the humor, setting, and compassion found in the Ginny Dove Cozy Mystery Series.
Lea Charles also writes as Ed Lynskey.
Ginny Dove, a military widow, runs the Paisley Apron Diner in the small town of Sweet Springs, Virginia, located amid the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains. Acting Sheriff Roosevelt Baker soon comes to depend on Ginny’s sleuthing smarts and practical ideas to ferret out the right clues. When not operating the town diner and playing amateur sleuth, Ginny raises her rambunctious seven-year-old son Boone and begins her promising romance with Roosevelt. Mystery fans of Nevada Barr as well as Jim and Joyce Laverne will enjoy the humor, setting, and compassion found in the Ginny Dove Cozy Mystery Series.
Lea Charles also writes as Ed Lynskey.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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September 13, 2018I tried. Really I did. But the absurd premise and the stilted writing made it impossible for me to devote any more of my reading time to this silliness. Especially when there is really great writing out there just waiting for me to read it.
What's the problem? Well, let me set the scene. Imagine Murder, She Wrote except that the setting is Southwest Virginia (my home state) and the amateur detective, Ginny Dove, is not a writer, but the owner of the local diner. A murder victim is found on property owned by Ms. Dove which prompts local law enforcement to interview Ms. Dove. So far, so good, right?
Here's where it becomes intolerably ridiculous. The sheriff immediately asks Ginny to assist him in his investigation. She has no experience (note that this is the first in the series) and there appears to be no reason whatsoever for this request. And, oh by the way, the characters actually compare themselves to Murder She Wrote. Puh-leeze. I could have made that leap of faith, I suppose, but the writing is extremely simplistic and consists of a series of dialogue sentences, with the occasional scene setting sentence.
Ginny was refilling the peppershakers (they no longer set out the saltshakers for health reasons) on the tables and booths when she took Diane Brent's phone call.
Riveting stuff.
Then 20 lines of short dialog sentences with no intervening text.
Seriously this goes on page after page.
Ooh here's some variety:
Boone sounded petulant. "Why can't I?"
Then 19 more lines of short dialog sentences.
Enough already. You get the idea. Sorry, but you're going to have to do better than this to get me to read.
What's the problem? Well, let me set the scene. Imagine Murder, She Wrote except that the setting is Southwest Virginia (my home state) and the amateur detective, Ginny Dove, is not a writer, but the owner of the local diner. A murder victim is found on property owned by Ms. Dove which prompts local law enforcement to interview Ms. Dove. So far, so good, right?
Here's where it becomes intolerably ridiculous. The sheriff immediately asks Ginny to assist him in his investigation. She has no experience (note that this is the first in the series) and there appears to be no reason whatsoever for this request. And, oh by the way, the characters actually compare themselves to Murder She Wrote. Puh-leeze. I could have made that leap of faith, I suppose, but the writing is extremely simplistic and consists of a series of dialogue sentences, with the occasional scene setting sentence.
Ginny was refilling the peppershakers (they no longer set out the saltshakers for health reasons) on the tables and booths when she took Diane Brent's phone call.
Riveting stuff.
Then 20 lines of short dialog sentences with no intervening text.
Seriously this goes on page after page.
Ooh here's some variety:
Boone sounded petulant. "Why can't I?"
Then 19 more lines of short dialog sentences.
Enough already. You get the idea. Sorry, but you're going to have to do better than this to get me to read.
October 14, 2019
To give credit where credit is due, Found Key avoids the mistake of being distracted by the pretty, keeping descriptions brief and punchy. The setting in the mountain Southeast rings true. Our characters can legit claim bootleggers in the family and use “shucks” and “gingersnap” as swear words, because the author also wrote them money-poor but land-rich, part of a small town with multiple military widows in which a full-time job with benefits or recycling your sister’s ex might both be motives to murder.
True to the cozy genre, our Ginny co-owns the town diner and is asked by the acting sheriff to help investigate a murder. Unlike a typical cozy, Ginny worries that her investigating will drive customers off to the fast food places out by the interstate, and that investigating will take her away from her son (whose potential 2nd grade teacher is one of the suspects). Ginny’s mother and crazy-cat-lady aunt come to the rescue, unfortunately removing all the interesting peril.
Hopefully future installments will include the author developing distinct voices for each character and showing – rather than telling us – that the sheriff is competent and would make a good romantic match for Ginny. She’s an authentic and seldom-heard-from character type who deserves well-written stories.
True to the cozy genre, our Ginny co-owns the town diner and is asked by the acting sheriff to help investigate a murder. Unlike a typical cozy, Ginny worries that her investigating will drive customers off to the fast food places out by the interstate, and that investigating will take her away from her son (whose potential 2nd grade teacher is one of the suspects). Ginny’s mother and crazy-cat-lady aunt come to the rescue, unfortunately removing all the interesting peril.
Hopefully future installments will include the author developing distinct voices for each character and showing – rather than telling us – that the sheriff is competent and would make a good romantic match for Ginny. She’s an authentic and seldom-heard-from character type who deserves well-written stories.
July 13, 2018
Didn't finish - just didn't care for it. Not my cup of tea.
did-not-finish
May 31, 2022This book was just barely OK. Most of the characters were incredibly predictable, and it could have been resolved in an even shorter book than it is.
March 9, 2025
Quick read cozy. Nothing memorable.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews