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No Visible Means: A Stella Kirk Mystery #1
Witnesses saw Lorraine Young arrive home. Her 1977 black Malibu is parked beside her twenty-seven-foot Holiday Rambler trailer. Her windows and doors are bolted from the inside, but she's not there.
Stella Kirk has the instinctive ability to frame a question in a way that elicits a long-buried answer. As the owner of Shale Cliffs RV Park, she tackles the disappearance of one of her seasonal residents with a vengeance.
Aiden North, a police detective and her high school sweetheart some thirty years ago, investigates with Stella's help. Nick Cochran, the park manager and Stella's secret lover, supports their efforts.
Read the first Stella Kirk Mystery. Be part of the journey to answer the Whatever happened to Lorraine Young?
Stella Kirk has the instinctive ability to frame a question in a way that elicits a long-buried answer. As the owner of Shale Cliffs RV Park, she tackles the disappearance of one of her seasonal residents with a vengeance.
Aiden North, a police detective and her high school sweetheart some thirty years ago, investigates with Stella's help. Nick Cochran, the park manager and Stella's secret lover, supports their efforts.
Read the first Stella Kirk Mystery. Be part of the journey to answer the Whatever happened to Lorraine Young?
241 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 1, 2019
3 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
L.P. Suzanne Atkinson
18 books25 followersL. P. Suzanne Atkinson was born in New Brunswick, Canada and lived in Alberta, Quebec and Nova Scotia before settling in Prince Edward Island in 2022. She has degrees from Mount Allison, Acadia, and McGill universities. Suzanne spent her professional career in the fields of mental health and home care. She also owned and operated, with her husband, both an antique business and a construction business for more than twenty-five years.
Suzanne writes about the unavoidable consequences of relationships. She uses her life and work experiences to weave stories that cross many boundaries.
She and her husband, David Weintraub, make Summerside, PEI their home.
Email – lpsa.books@eastlink.ca
Website – http://lpsabooks.wix.com/lpsabooks#
Face Book – L. P. Suzanne Atkinson – Author
Suzanne writes about the unavoidable consequences of relationships. She uses her life and work experiences to weave stories that cross many boundaries.
She and her husband, David Weintraub, make Summerside, PEI their home.
Email – lpsa.books@eastlink.ca
Website – http://lpsabooks.wix.com/lpsabooks#
Face Book – L. P. Suzanne Atkinson – Author
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 2, 2021
No Visible Means by Suzanna Atkinson is an unusual take on the cozy mystery genre. Having the book take place at an RV Park is a great location since you’ll have the regulars that you can get to know more about in each book, along with new characters in each book, which will give Atkinson a lot of room to play with character development and new situations for them to have to deal with.
Having grown up in the 80’s it was a pleasure to read about this time frame and it filled me with moments of nostalgia. My family did have an RV that we would travel around the state in during the summer months, so the details that Atkinson wrote in regards to the parks and all the services that are provided were right on point.
No Visible Means did start off slow between the mass of information that was provided and the repetition of what people had seen, but it did pick up and the revelations that came forth from the locked room mystery would make Sherlock Holmes proud. The depth surrounding the crime outside of the RV Park was very well put together too.
This is a series that I think will be a bit of fresh air for those who read a lot of cozy mysteries since it doesn’t completely follow the usual cozy formula.
Having grown up in the 80’s it was a pleasure to read about this time frame and it filled me with moments of nostalgia. My family did have an RV that we would travel around the state in during the summer months, so the details that Atkinson wrote in regards to the parks and all the services that are provided were right on point.
No Visible Means did start off slow between the mass of information that was provided and the repetition of what people had seen, but it did pick up and the revelations that came forth from the locked room mystery would make Sherlock Holmes proud. The depth surrounding the crime outside of the RV Park was very well put together too.
This is a series that I think will be a bit of fresh air for those who read a lot of cozy mysteries since it doesn’t completely follow the usual cozy formula.
September 17, 2025
No Visible Means is a wonderfully detailed mystery that immediately pulls you into the world of Stella and her RV park. The author’s writing is vivid and descriptive—each character is drawn so clearly that you can see them in your mind and feel as though you’re right there in the park alongside them.
The story begins with the unsettling disappearance of one of the seasonal residents. Was she murdered, or did she stage her own vanishing act? As the investigation unfolds, Stella—the sharp and observant park owner—finds herself working so closely with the lead detective that it often feels like she is a true investigator herself. Her involvement adds both heart and intrigue to the story.
Atkinson balances suspense and character development beautifully. The setting of the RV park is unique and adds a fresh twist to the cozy-mystery feel, while the mystery itself keeps you guessing until the end.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am already looking forward to the next installment in the series. A strong 5 stars from me!
The story begins with the unsettling disappearance of one of the seasonal residents. Was she murdered, or did she stage her own vanishing act? As the investigation unfolds, Stella—the sharp and observant park owner—finds herself working so closely with the lead detective that it often feels like she is a true investigator herself. Her involvement adds both heart and intrigue to the story.
Atkinson balances suspense and character development beautifully. The setting of the RV park is unique and adds a fresh twist to the cozy-mystery feel, while the mystery itself keeps you guessing until the end.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am already looking forward to the next installment in the series. A strong 5 stars from me!
May 30, 2021
This was a satisfying novel. The setting was convincingly Nova Scotian and the plot well planned, but it was the characters who made the story fun. That many were caricatures added a smile or two—Dickens also used the device to good effect. Despite the discomfort I felt from the use of present tense, the story pulled me happily along, and I enjoyed being immersed in the life of a campground from the perspective of the owner. I look forward to reading the next Stella Kirk mystery, expected soon, and returning to Shale Cliffs. Brava to local author, L.P. Suzanne Atkinson.
May 5, 2020
Great local murder mystery set in the Eighties. Moves along at a nice pace. Highly recommended.
March 14, 2021
Well written NS mystery
December 18, 2023
No Visible Means by L.P. Suzanne Atkinson is a well-written mystery with characters that will make you want to go camping in PEI, just to hang out with them at their wonderful campground.
Stella Kirk, the owner of said campground, is a relatable and warm character that, one expects, could befriend anyone. When she is thrown into the quintessential locked room mystery, in this case a locked trailer, the reader is taken on a fast-paced adventure with her, her manager and love interest Nick, and the RCMP officer and her first love Aiden. There are a number of other quirky support characters who add flavour to the tale, and I look forward to getting to know them all in the next book.
Atkinson's descriptions of the Shale Cliffs RV Park and the area surrounding it are vivid and bring the setting to life. That setting, combined with the realistic characters, and the complex mystery with a number of suspects and theories, keeps the reader turning the pages to the very end.
I look forward to reading more of the series!
Stella Kirk, the owner of said campground, is a relatable and warm character that, one expects, could befriend anyone. When she is thrown into the quintessential locked room mystery, in this case a locked trailer, the reader is taken on a fast-paced adventure with her, her manager and love interest Nick, and the RCMP officer and her first love Aiden. There are a number of other quirky support characters who add flavour to the tale, and I look forward to getting to know them all in the next book.
Atkinson's descriptions of the Shale Cliffs RV Park and the area surrounding it are vivid and bring the setting to life. That setting, combined with the realistic characters, and the complex mystery with a number of suspects and theories, keeps the reader turning the pages to the very end.
I look forward to reading more of the series!
March 18, 2021
‘No Visible Means’ by L.P. Suzanne Atkinson sets the foundation for a really good cozy mystery series. Set in an RV park in the early eighties, this first novel introduces the colourful characters that will grace the pages of her Stella Kirk series. If you like the Cozy Mystery genre then you’ll like these.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews