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Sleuthing Sisters Mystery #1
Death on a Deadline
Jenna Stafford' s nephew is accused of killing his boss, the newspaper editor. But stop the presses! Jenna recruits her sister, Carly, and they go undercover to get the scoop on the murder. Will the next headline proclaim: Jenna and Carly expose killer? Or will the sleuthing sisters end up the featured subjects in tomorrow' s obit column?
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 7, 2007
37 people are currently reading
558 people want to read
About the author
Christine Lynxwiler
28 books65 followersAward-winning author and past president of American Christian Romance Writers, Christine Lynxwiler has numerous novels and novellas published with Barbour Publishing. She and her husband, Kevin, along with their two daughters, four horses, and two dogs live in the foothills of the beautiful Ozark Mountains in their home state of Arkansas."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
January 1, 2015
SUMMARY: Arkansas sisters Jenna Stafford and Carly Reece share a dry wit, an unshakable faith, and a regrettable tendency to happen across murder. . .When Carly’s paperboy son is accused of killing the newspaper editor, Jenna and Carly go undercover to get the scoop and clear the teen’s name. But stop the presses! Will the next headline feature them exposing the real killer? Or will the sleuthing sisters end up in the obit column?
REVIEW: This is the first of the Sleuthing Sisters mysteries and is a light hearted enjoyable read. It is a Christian mystery with a good storyline that keeps you turning pages as different characters become the focus as the murderer. Jenna is a well meaning snoop with her sister supporting her efforts. Infused with occasional rounds of humor this is definitely a good, clean read for those looking for cozy mysteries.
FAVORITE QUOTES: "When I thought of what a blessing it was to have a Father in heaven who forgives my inadequacies, in addition to earthly parents who love for who I am, I cried some more."
"Guilt never loses its power, even when served as leftovers from childhood."
"But the way I looked at it, if we didn't take time out for the Lord, how could we expect Him to take time out for us?"
REVIEW: This is the first of the Sleuthing Sisters mysteries and is a light hearted enjoyable read. It is a Christian mystery with a good storyline that keeps you turning pages as different characters become the focus as the murderer. Jenna is a well meaning snoop with her sister supporting her efforts. Infused with occasional rounds of humor this is definitely a good, clean read for those looking for cozy mysteries.
FAVORITE QUOTES: "When I thought of what a blessing it was to have a Father in heaven who forgives my inadequacies, in addition to earthly parents who love for who I am, I cried some more."
"Guilt never loses its power, even when served as leftovers from childhood."
"But the way I looked at it, if we didn't take time out for the Lord, how could we expect Him to take time out for us?"
June 22, 2025
Death on a deadline.
1 star - 🥴 - Cruising through my cozy mystery books, I thought this would be just like the previous one where we had one self proclaimed detective.
Jenna is a swimming instructor who has to save her nephew from being convicted in a murder of a newspaper editor. It started off promising, but lost pace and steam. Jenna blamed everyone of being the killer😬😬.
Just one thought came to mind - Lagta hai kacchi khilaadi hai😎 (Andaz apna apna fans?)
1 star - 🥴 - Cruising through my cozy mystery books, I thought this would be just like the previous one where we had one self proclaimed detective.
Jenna is a swimming instructor who has to save her nephew from being convicted in a murder of a newspaper editor. It started off promising, but lost pace and steam. Jenna blamed everyone of being the killer😬😬.
Just one thought came to mind - Lagta hai kacchi khilaadi hai😎 (Andaz apna apna fans?)
April 13, 2015
An okay but frequently slightly frustrating mystery read. I felt that the author left explanations of the protagonist's background story until far too late in the book and the revelation of the killer came very much out of left field. Additionally, Jenna just had too many TSTL moments for my liking.
June 10, 2012
Fluffy mystery. A little piece of brain-candy for a Sunday afternoon.
October 26, 2014
I just discovered this series and I love it! Sisters, the South and Murder makes a perfect combination. Anyone who likes clean, Christian mysteries will love this series.
Want to read
September 6, 200809/06/08 rec from heartsong bookclub
February 28, 2020
Why can't sisters always be friends. That is part of the question that helps Jenna and sister Carly, investigate a murder of Hank, infinitely known as a sarcastic news editor. Carly, the eldest has always backed and counseled her younger, brash sister Jenna. Both ladies carry some baggage; Jenna over her perceived failures as a teenager and then again as a teacher. Calling it quits she returns home to her small town and becomes known for being "nosy"! Carly is recovering from a cheating husband, three kids and lives with her parents. Oldest child, Zac is a teenager, a brush with the law prompted Carly to return to her roots. Murder of the crotchety editor and Zac being fired and then spotted at the site of Hank's body early in the morning starts the "noses" twitching. Add the return of Jenna's first heartache now Zac's lawyer, Stir in a budding interest of Carly in dating again. family feuds lasting decades, old friends now in law enforcement, and Jenna dives in head first. Good cozy mystery and small town rumors galore.
August 14, 2021
Jenna is back in her little home town, running the health club after her Olympic hopes washed away. Her reunion with one-time significant other Alex, now a lawyer, would be interesting, were it not that he's defending her teen-aged nephew, who is suspected of killing the local newspaper publisher. Colorful subsidiary characters add a boost to this mystery, which is more romance than anything else.
October 23, 2024
This was just what I needed, a light, entertaining murder mystery. I didn’t realize it also would gently incorporate some Christian values into the story. Lovely book by three sisters. I’ll be looking for more of their titles.
October 9, 2017
Entertaining to read, but you have to shake your head at some of the antics of the heroine. The killer was a surprise.
December 28, 2021
Good Read!!
October 14, 2025
Great, quick little mystery read.
September 4, 2012
Death on a Deadline, by sisters Christine Lynxwiler, Jan Reynolds, and Sandy Gaskin, is a story about sisters at its heart. Only instead of writing together, fictional sisters Jenna and Carly solve mysteries. They can’t help it, especially when Jenna is sure Carly’s teenage son didn’t murder the local newspaper editor. She ropes Carly into helping her find the real murderer, though it doesn’t take too much roping.
This is a cozy mystery, yet the authors are able to allow the grief and horror of the murder and the accusation of murder against a family member settle into their characters. The gentle laughs come from the sisters’ relationship and their sleuthing.
The big question of the story is who DOESN’T Jenna suspect? She interviews everyone in the city, it seems, ticking off the local police chief. An undercover newspaper assignment and a brush with death later, the sisters find out whodunit. (No spoilers here!)
My favorite part of this book is the sister relationship between Carly and Jenna. The loyalty and the sibling tiffs and the way they’ve got each other’s backs all ring true. I’d like to have lunch with these ladies. If they don’t have a murder to solve, that is.
Blessings,
Voni
This is a cozy mystery, yet the authors are able to allow the grief and horror of the murder and the accusation of murder against a family member settle into their characters. The gentle laughs come from the sisters’ relationship and their sleuthing.
The big question of the story is who DOESN’T Jenna suspect? She interviews everyone in the city, it seems, ticking off the local police chief. An undercover newspaper assignment and a brush with death later, the sisters find out whodunit. (No spoilers here!)
My favorite part of this book is the sister relationship between Carly and Jenna. The loyalty and the sibling tiffs and the way they’ve got each other’s backs all ring true. I’d like to have lunch with these ladies. If they don’t have a murder to solve, that is.
Blessings,
Voni
December 17, 2016
I've had this book on my shelf for a long while to fulfill a GoodReads challenge. I wish I had read it sooner! This was a very enjoyable clean, cozy mystery with 2 sisters who work together to solve a murder.
The main character, Jenna Stafford, comes back home to Lake View, Arkansas, 10 years after losing face for not winning at the swimming Olympics. Now she works at the town's health club with the possibility of becoming the owner. Meanwhile, Jenna's nephew Zac is accused of murdering his boss, the town's newspaper editor. Together with her sister Carly (Zac's mother), they help to clear Zac of the accusation and found out who the real killer is. Jenna also deals with her childhood crush who also came back to Lake View at the same time and they work through their hurt feelings from over 10 years ago.
The sisters have a great bond and I loved reading how they worked together to solve the mystery. I like this small town and the characters. I like a lot of these Heartsong Presesnts Mystery series. They can be categorized as Christian mysteries or clean mysteries but they also have good plot lines.
I gave this mystery a 4.25 rating. I plan to purchase the other 2 books in the series.
The main character, Jenna Stafford, comes back home to Lake View, Arkansas, 10 years after losing face for not winning at the swimming Olympics. Now she works at the town's health club with the possibility of becoming the owner. Meanwhile, Jenna's nephew Zac is accused of murdering his boss, the town's newspaper editor. Together with her sister Carly (Zac's mother), they help to clear Zac of the accusation and found out who the real killer is. Jenna also deals with her childhood crush who also came back to Lake View at the same time and they work through their hurt feelings from over 10 years ago.
The sisters have a great bond and I loved reading how they worked together to solve the mystery. I like this small town and the characters. I like a lot of these Heartsong Presesnts Mystery series. They can be categorized as Christian mysteries or clean mysteries but they also have good plot lines.
I gave this mystery a 4.25 rating. I plan to purchase the other 2 books in the series.
July 14, 2015
Not a favorite, that's for sure. The author waits too long to tell the backstory on the protagonist and just makes me feel frustrated to not know why she's so gung-ho to investigate something that really isn't her business... The plot leads you to believe that one character is the actual killer until he's killed off about 4/5 of the way thru the book, with little warning. Then the actual killer (who has admitted to killing at least 4 people) is deemed too crazy to stand trial? 4 dead bodies is one over the minimum to be considered a serial killer, especially when the motives for the killings are related... and this is a very minor character until the very end, so it's almost like the solution is from way out in left field - which left me feeling cheated. Not one I would recommend, that's for sure!
September 14, 2015
Let me start by saying this is a much more attractive and fitting cover for the book I read. The cover on the one I read was a cat staring me in the face with no other contextual clues. But as far as the story goes, I enjoyed following Carla and Jenna as they tracked down a killer in an attempt to clear the name of a loved one. As the begrudging assistant, Carla's place made sense and fit the story line, while Jenna's curiosity and ability to insert herself into difficult, and sometimes dangerous, circumstances was also logically portrayed. The relationship between Jenna and John, the chief of police, seemed difficult to follow. It was at times playful, and at other times seemed almost to be that of two strangers. For the most part, the conclusion was satisfying and realistic, and I'm looking forward to reading others in the series, if I can get them for free online or at my library.
August 3, 2014
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It had earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It had earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
March 19, 2010
Snore. I grabbed this on the new shelf at the library because it looked like a cute brain candy mystery. It's ok. Kind of boring but very clean.
I did not catch from the cover that it is Christian lit (is that a category)? Every once and a while the author would say something like "I was happy living this life on earth that God had planned for me" and I would start and think - wait, what?!
The book did not really keep my attention as one point I was trying to remember what book I was reading and realized I had put it down when our heroine was confronting the killer and had a gun pointed at her and I was just not that concerned.
I did not catch from the cover that it is Christian lit (is that a category)? Every once and a while the author would say something like "I was happy living this life on earth that God had planned for me" and I would start and think - wait, what?!
The book did not really keep my attention as one point I was trying to remember what book I was reading and realized I had put it down when our heroine was confronting the killer and had a gun pointed at her and I was just not that concerned.
April 24, 2015
I am not use to reading Christian literature, and I actually was not sure this was intended as such until the last chapter, and the blurb on the back about the authors. Mostly, this book just seemed to have a character that had that as part of their background. It was subtle enough that it was not obvious.
The mystery was OK. It was enjoyable, but it was lacking in clues and red herrings that would really make the reveal seem like the protagonist really solved the crime. Not awful or anything, it just lacked the fun of the reader being able to become part of the detective, and help solve it along the way.
I may or may not try another in this series.
The mystery was OK. It was enjoyable, but it was lacking in clues and red herrings that would really make the reveal seem like the protagonist really solved the crime. Not awful or anything, it just lacked the fun of the reader being able to become part of the detective, and help solve it along the way.
I may or may not try another in this series.
February 14, 2013
This was a kindle freebie mystery. It was not a bad read... fluffy, but expected. However, the constant infusion of Christianity is distracting. I have no issues with reading books with characters of any religion, but this book reads as if the characters' prayers/prosthelytizing/quoting of the bible were added into the novel as an afterthought, and inserted in places where it just didn't flow right. I liked the characters well enough to read the second book in the series, but in the second book, this issue was even more prevalent.
March 6, 2015
This book was very good and I really enjoyed it! It's a solid story with enjoyable characters you want to spend time with. Jenna and her sister Carly work together to try to clear Carly's son of a murder he didn't commit. As circumstantial evidence builds against Carly's son will they be able to find out what really happened?
One of the reasons I enjoyed this book was the characters, I liked them and wanted to read more about them. The story moves at a brisk pace that you can't wait to see what happens next. Full of wit and charm, this is an enjoyable read!
One of the reasons I enjoyed this book was the characters, I liked them and wanted to read more about them. The story moves at a brisk pace that you can't wait to see what happens next. Full of wit and charm, this is an enjoyable read!
August 21, 2015
Boring badly written book
Two women back in their small home town after failing in their lives. One with 3 kids and 1 with a neurotic cat.
There's a murder. One of the kids is implicated and Aunt drags the mother into the investigation.
Then there's the old sweetheart who's also just moved back to town.
And on and on.
None of this would matter if the book was well written. It wasn't, the book dragged and was seriously boring.
Don't waste your money on this book. This isn't a series that will be following and I think you should give it a miss.
Two women back in their small home town after failing in their lives. One with 3 kids and 1 with a neurotic cat.
There's a murder. One of the kids is implicated and Aunt drags the mother into the investigation.
Then there's the old sweetheart who's also just moved back to town.
And on and on.
None of this would matter if the book was well written. It wasn't, the book dragged and was seriously boring.
Don't waste your money on this book. This isn't a series that will be following and I think you should give it a miss.
Read
October 31, 2014Each chapter starts with a small newspaper article, which is the focus of the chapter. The book is a fairly predictable murder in a small town with the person who can't help but investigate, the accusation of the wrong party, a mildly complicated romance and an unexpected murderer uncovered by our intrepid sleuth. This was a free Kindle book, I may need to reconsider getting books just because they look kind of interesting and are free.
September 14, 2015
Cute, Fun, and very Entertaining
I picked this book up when it was free for Kindle because of the title and the cover picture. It was a fun book that kept me guessing. I didn't have it figured out until the end.
Jenna was a blast to watch as you cried wolf too many time to count. But I loved her energy and passion.
I hope there are more books with adventures from this group. They were very fun!
I picked this book up when it was free for Kindle because of the title and the cover picture. It was a fun book that kept me guessing. I didn't have it figured out until the end.
Jenna was a blast to watch as you cried wolf too many time to count. But I loved her energy and passion.
I hope there are more books with adventures from this group. They were very fun!
July 25, 2008
wow! quite well written, especially considering their were 3 different authors contributing. albeit sisters themselves, but still ...
i enjoyed not only the mystery itself, and how the book was written, but how the characters related to each other. all very down to earth and "real".
i will MOST definitely be looking for sequels!!!
i enjoyed not only the mystery itself, and how the book was written, but how the characters related to each other. all very down to earth and "real".
i will MOST definitely be looking for sequels!!!
Read
June 28, 2012this was a free book on kindle so i tried it. i am hopeful that this author will do better on the next book. i felt no connection to the characters and it was a bit of a let down for me. ill read the next one if its free but wont be rushing to buy it.
December 7, 2014
Was in the mood for a light mystery, like a cozy. Took a chance on this one and was not disappointed. Very clean, I believe it's Christian fiction. Had this first one free on my Kindle and I believe I can get the next ones through Prime. Once Christmas is over, I plan to do just that :)
August 22, 2008
A fun read! Two sisters decide to solve a murder because they don't think the police are doing enough to find the killer. Written by three real-life sisters.
October 21, 2010
Good mystery...good book!
May 22, 2012
This was one of those books that once I started it I didn't want to put it down. Finding out who was the killer was absolutely shocking & I really enjoyed the book!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews