Didn't Stand a Chance: A Stella Kirk Mystery #2

by L.P. Suzanne Atkinson

The assumed accidental death of a young bride leads Detective Aiden North and Stella Kirk, the owner of the Shale Cliffs RV Park, into an investigation fraught with sibling secrets, revealing choices, and unforgivable misunderstandings. Which family member holds the ultimate power of influence? Will Lucy Painter's murder be confirmed? Will the perpetrator be exposed? Will family ties be unbreakable to the end?

228 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

About the author

L. 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

Reviews

[Lyn Thomson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story of a close family who found it difficult to let outsiders in, and especially was sympathetic to the woman who became its head at a too-young age. I would have liked it re-explained for the forgetful reader, or the one who starts with book two, how the protagonist was allowed to assume an apparently official investigative position beside the one policeman available. In this case, her neighbours considered her a busy-body and questioned her authority, and so it seemed to me. Also, I am not comfortable with the present tense. But the book is sufficiently 'cozy' to advance an understanding of the recurring characters' various relationships, and readers will be propelled toward further stories in the series. To me the best of the book was the well-drawn autistic character, who is an important part of the family and the story.

[Sue Slade · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the second installment in L.P Suzanne Atkinson’s, early 1980s Stella Kirk murder mystery series ‘Didn’t Stand a Chance’. Set in the winter we don’t see much of Stella’s Shale Cliffs RV Park, but we do learn more about the lives of several of her characters from her first novel outside the park. I am pleased that Duke, her RV Park Security makes an appearance in the story if only to help with Winter Renovations. This story kept me in suspense until its satisfying conclusion. I am looking forward to reading her next novel in this series.

[Ronan O'Driscoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kept me guessing until the last chapter! Underneath the cozy murder mystery is a deft depiction of an autistic character. Very well done. I can't wait until Stella Kirk has her own TV show.

[Kelly Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent second book in the Stella Kirk mystery series. Atkinson once again presents a well-written page turner with compelling characters and an intriguing, well-researched mystery. I look forward to reading more.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend of the author shared this book with me. She knows I like mysteries.

The whodunnit was well done here and I liked that the main setting was a trailer park in a small community in the 1980s. That setting allowed a civilian to team up with a police officer to conduct the investigation.

The number of words devoted to the weather is a dead giveaway that it is a Canadian story and Stella Kirk is a quirky, believable woman.