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Reporter Roland Bean #1

Easter Egg Hunt Murder

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Can you figure out who the killer is before the guilty culprit is revealed?

During an Easter egg hunt, Roland “Beanie” Bean and his two-year-old son Evan are searching for eggs when they find a woman sprawled in the dirt beneath a hibiscus bush.

Little Evan thinks the lady is just sleeping, but Beanie knows better. The woman is dead.

As an investigative reporter at the Palmchat Gazette, Beanie is the perfect person to cover the story, considering that he found the victim.

Narrowing down the field of suspects, Beanie finds out the victim had plenty of enemies. Not only was she unfaithful to her husband, but she was blackmailing her lover and cheating her business partner and may have been involved in a scam with a vicious island cartel.

As Beanie continues to investigate, he uncovers sinister secrets and devious motives among those who were closest to the victim. Racing to discover the killer, he ends up the target of a diabolical murderer who won’t hesitate to kill again.

Easter Egg Hunt Murder is a contemporary whodunit murder mystery novel in the Reporter Roland Bean Cozy Mystery Series but can be read as a standalone. With lots of clues and red herrings, it features plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end! Get your copy today!

244 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 4, 2020

214 people are currently reading
196 people want to read

About the author

Rachel Woods

32 books84 followers

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5 stars
40 (27%)
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59 (41%)
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36 (25%)
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7 (4%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
Profile Image for karin whitehead.
1,054 reviews10 followers
April 16, 2020
Easter Egg Hunt Murder

What an entertaining read! Beanie is a reporter for the local newspaper who finds himself involved in finding a killer. Well written fun read! Loved the characters, a solid story line, and a good clean mystery. A very entertaining read, pleased to recommend this author!
Profile Image for Carol.
1,643 reviews67 followers
January 30, 2022
An Investigative reporter for the Palmchat
Gazette, Roland Bean is known as “Beanie”
among his family and friends.
Beanie takes his family to an Easter Egg
Hunt on the Palmchat Island of St Lucia.
Beanie and his young son, Evan, age 2 are off
hunting eggs. They go into a grove where
Evan discovers a lady sleeping. Only Beanie
realizes she is permanently asleep. It looks
like she has been the victim of blunt force
trauma in addition to being stabbed several
times.
The murdered woman was Anna Zamora
who has quite the history. Beanie decides to
investigate finding this woman’s murder was
much more complicated than he thought at
first.
Come along and follow Beanie as he
investigates Anna’s life to try and discover
who would murder her, why she was murdered
and can he narrow down the culprit.
I felt the cast of characters to be very realistic
and relatable. There were some who were full
of deception with sinister secrets making the
read suspenseful, intriguing and entertaining.
I learned a lot about being an investigative
reporter from Beanie.
I volunteered to read Easter Egg Hunt. Thanks
for the opportunity from Story Origins. My
opinion is voluntary and my own.
2,130 reviews46 followers
March 10, 2020
Who knew that an Easter egg hunt with his young son would have Roland 'Beanie' Bean searching for a killer. However, murder is not new for him. He's an investigative reporter for the Palmchat Gazette. As he started gathering information he finds that there are many suspects and motives. I was shocked that Anna had so many enemies. Beanie has his work cut out for him. Of course being at the crime scene and finding the body gave him invaluable information. I tried to determine who committed the crime, but Beanie was successful where I wasn't. I enjoyed this cozy mystery. The characters were interesting and the story was filled with surprises. Rachel Woods was a new to me author, but I plan to change that. I enjoyed her writing. I like Beanie and his family.
Profile Image for Jenny.
2,354 reviews73 followers
May 2, 2020
Easter Egg Hunt Murder is book one in the Roland Bean Cozy Mystery by Rachel Woods. While Roland Bean and his son Evan were hunting for Easter eggs, they found the body of Anna Zamora. Roland Bean decided to investigate the murder of Anna Zamora. However, Beanie realises that Anna death was not as straight forwarded as he first thought. The readers of Easter Egg Hunt Murder will continue to follow Beanie's investigation into the death of Anna Zamora.

I like reading Easter Egg Hunt Murder. However, for me, I will not read any more books in this series. I love the portrayal of the characters and the way they interacted with each other throughout the book. The Easter Egg Hunt Murder was different from other cozy mysteries the MC was male. The description of the settings of the Easter Egg Hunt Murder was done excellently by Rachel Woods. Easter Egg Hunt Murder was well written and research by Rachel Woods.

The readers of Easter Egg Hunt Murder will learn about being an investigative reporter for a newspaper. Also, the readers of Easter Egg Hunt Murder will learn about the consequences of greed.

I recommend this book.
Profile Image for Billie.
5,786 reviews72 followers
March 13, 2020
Can you figure out who the killer is before the guilty culprit is revealed?
During an Easter egg hunt, Roland “Beanie” Bean and his two-year-old son Evan are searching for eggs when they find a woman sprawled in the dirt beneath a hibiscus bush.
Little Evan thinks the lady is just sleeping, but Beanie knows better.
The nasty gash on the woman’s forehead might not have killed her, but the stab wounds in her chest appear to be fatal.
As an investigative reporter at the Palmchat Gazette, Beanie is the perfect person to cover the story, considering that he found the victim.
Narrowing down the field of suspects, Beanie finds out the victim had plenty of enemies. Not only was she unfaithful to her husband, but she was blackmailing her lover and cheating her business partner and may have been involved in a scam with a vicious island cartel.
As Beanie continues to investigate, he uncovers sinister secrets and devious motives among those who were closest to the victim. Racing to discover the killer, he ends up the target of a diabolical murderer who won’t hesitate to kill again.
Easter Egg Hunt Murder is a contemporary whodunit murder mystery novel in the Reporter Roland Bean Cozy Mystery Series but can be read as a standalone. With lots of clues and red herrings, it features plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end!

This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believeable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building that adds so much to the story.
Can't wait to read more of these.
Recommend reading.

I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
Profile Image for Rosemary.
3,922 reviews71 followers
March 17, 2020
Easter Egg Hunt Murder (A Reporter Roland Bean Cozy Mystery Book 1) - a review by Rosemary Kenny

Aptly timed to read as Easter approaches, Rachel Woods' whimsically-named novella definitely has a dark side, to what should be a happy family event, in the first book in her A Roland Beanie Bean Cozy Mystery series opener, The Easter Egg Hunt Murder.
Investigative journalist Roland Bean, (affectionately known as 'Beanie' to his family and friends) takes part in the eponymous hunt on the tropical Palmchat Island of St Lucia with his family - wife Noelle, their young sons, Ethan (4) Evan (2) and Noelle's Mom. Many others are also present even if watching from the sidelines. Different personalities are brought engagingly to life and all seems well, as Evan and Beanie move into an hibiscus grove, where Evan - determined to find more 
Easter eggs than anyone else,finds a 'sleeping lady' instead - yes, you've guessed it - she's in an everlasting sleep,(ie dead) clearly murdered,by a blow to the head and several stab wounds. But who is the killer among them? The victim is Anna  - a lady with a somewhat chequered history of 'liaisons amoreux' and partner,with one of her friends, Barbara, in an exclusive local boutique, where the latter carries her profitable, but dangerous clandestine activities.
 Who is the killer? What was Anna doing that made her removal a 'necessity' for someone? Whose house was the Easter egg hunt held at? Were they involved?
As the story develops we become fond of Beanie, who's a rather bumbling (at times), investigator,who uses Noelle as a 'sounding board' for his theories and progress in the investigation. Noelle and Barbara both have a common past that they'd rather keep quiet about, but is silence really Noelle's friend?Other forces are at play and there may well be more than one reason for Anna's death, meaning Beanie and his family could be in danger, too.A cleverly developed, well-written cozy mystery by Rachel Woods,The Easter Egg Hunt Murder will warm your heart at times, or send a frisson of fear down your spine as the plot thickens. Why not grab yourself a copy of Book 1 in the A Roland Beanie Bean Cozy Mystery series - and settle down to hunting for clues to the killer - you'll love it!

I received a copy of this book from Story Origin and voluntarily chose to write my honest review.
1,187 reviews4 followers
March 13, 2020
Beanie is an investigative reporter with a beautiful wife and two small boys. They are at an Easter egg hunt with some colleges and friends of his wife when his youngest son finds “sleepy lady”. Beanie investigates and finds his host’s wife dead. He is asked to investigate, opening a lot of secrets and potential dangers.

This is a cozy mystery that has a man as the investigator. Most of the cozy mysteries that I have read have had a female or a couple as protagonist(s). I found it refreshing. I liked the characters, they were well developed and engaging. The storyline moved quickly and was full of surprises, unexpected turns, obstacles and suspense. The character goes through emotional ups and downs as he tries to please everyone, solve the crime, keep his wife happy, his family safe and of course writing his stories. I liked the interaction between him and his family, it was romantic and darling. This is a good book and I am interested to read more from the Roland Bean Mystery Series.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Debbie Orazi.
1,755 reviews26 followers
March 13, 2020
Very well written story that kept me guessing until the ending.

Roland "Beanie" Bean is an investigative reporter. He, his wife Noelle and their two boys Evan and Ethan are at a posh Easter egg hunt at the home of the university president. Beanie and his son stumble across the dead body of the president's wife Anna. While writing the articles about her murder, Beanie learns about the motives of his fellow party goers - jealousy, blackmail, embezzlement, greed, designer drug dealing and gang violence. While fact checking his stories, he works with the local police and his private sources to narrow down the list of potential suspects. He overhears the murderer confess to the killing and another an attempted murder and nearly gets shot before the police barge in to make the arrest.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Sentinelle23.
2,082 reviews33 followers
March 24, 2020
A MYSTERIOUS INVESTIGATION

The president of St Killian University hold at his home the annual "Easter Egg Hunt".

Like a lot of other people, the reporter Roland Bean, his wife Noelle and their two little sons Ethan and Evan, are invited to participate.

Searching Easter eggs in the huge garden, little Ethan find a "sleepy lady" on the ground.
Roland "Beanie" Bean soon realize that it's in fact the dead body of a woman...

---------------------

There it is a detective story that takes place in the very closed world of some rich people of a small town.

The local reporter is drawn, despite himself, into a very mysterious investigation.

I had trouble following the story because of the many characters.

Still, I found the story entertaining and the ending rather exciting, if a little predictable.

I may read another of the books of reporter Roland "Beanie" Bean's adventures.
Profile Image for Melissa Basnight.
689 reviews18 followers
March 5, 2020
This is the first book in the series and it is a good start to an interesting storyline. Roland or Beanie is an investigative reporter. His family is at an Easter Egg Hunt with his wife’s co-workers. His son finds a sleepy lady while hunting for Easter eggs and Beanie is on the hunt for clues to solve the mystery. There are so many suspects that he needs to weed through and so many conflicting stories. The story was slow, but still good and the story kept you guessing to the end as to who the real murderer was. I am hoping to read more about Beanie’s wife’s secrets. I received an ARC and I voluntarily reviewed this book.
6,043 reviews46 followers
March 9, 2020
An investigative reporter, Beanie once dreamed of living in the pricey area, and still day dreams of advancing enough to move his wife and sons there - at least before visiting an Easter Egg Hunt at the invitation of an important Professor his wife would like to impress in order to advance herself at the University.

Death is not the only reckless habit in the grove. Sexcapades, thefts, drugs and larger criminal enterprises seemed to have links to the area.

Perhaps a more humble address is better after all!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
1,062 reviews18 followers
March 2, 2020
This first book in the Reporter Roland Bean Cozy Mystery series by Rachel Woods was a fast and easy reading but very entertaining mystery story. The main character is definitely a bit on the stubborn side which is normal for an investigative reporter. Figuring out who killed and why was unclear until near the end when the author chose to reveal the finale with a little twist, which of course I am not going to disclose to you. I am definitely looking forward to reading others in this series. This is a voluntary review of an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Hidden Gems Books.
Profile Image for Roger.
5,717 reviews28 followers
Read
October 4, 2020
Easter Egg Hunt Murder (A Reporter Roland Bean Cozy Mystery Book 1), my first read from author Rachel Woods. I got this book back in March before Covid. I was given a Kindle copy of Trick or Treat Murder (A Reporter Roland Bean Cozy Mystery Book 3) & wanted to read books 1 &2 before reading it. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I already owned both of them! An excellent & captivating read which I read in one sitting. I eagerly look forward to reading more from this author. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).
Profile Image for Claudete Takahashi.
2,698 reviews37 followers
March 5, 2020
I really enjoyed reading this story, Rachel Woods has gone over the top when she describes the egg hunt. The details she gives about children and parents involved are just beautiful ! I could see the image of little boys running around looking for eggs.... The story has humor, love, action, treason and obviously murder all well balanced and in a very imaginative way.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.
695 reviews2 followers
April 13, 2020
Great book!!!!

My first time reading this author, boy did this have some twists to this story line.
I didn't get much sleep with this book.
Noelle and Beanie are a unique couple.
I didn't have an idea who was behind all this madness until chapter 30.
It has alot of suspects and motives to go around a few times.
And the gossip couple kept things hopping for Beanie. (Get the pun?)
Profile Image for Diane Wachter.
2,397 reviews10 followers
April 17, 2020
A Reporter Roland Bean Cozy Mystery, Bk 2, EBk-M, Kindle, @ 2020, read 4/16/20. Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Islands, Cartel, Murder. A series about a young journalist, married to an ex-gang member/turned Adjunct Professor, Pharmacist and Mother. When a murder is committed at an Easter Egg Hunt, where Bean and family are in attendance, Bean is called upon to report on the murder in the paper. 2☆'s = Okay. Lots of suspects, but kind of convoluted!
Profile Image for Tam.
2,181 reviews54 followers
March 11, 2020
This was a fast-paced, suspenseful read, that I found I did not want to put down! The story was original and exciting with characters that were realistic and likable. It is everything you could want in a delightful whodunit that keeps you guessing.

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.
Profile Image for Nadine.
838 reviews9 followers
March 24, 2020
This was ok. I was a little worried at first with all the names being thrown at me....wondering if I could keep track of who’s husband/wife were together.....but it worked out ok. I think it would’ve been better if the so called mob wasn’t involved. The mystery was just ok. Oh well...Happy Reading :)
Profile Image for Debbie.
506 reviews
April 9, 2020
Good read

This is a mystery that keeps you guessing. While Beanie and his family are at an Easter egg hunt when Beanie's son finds a sleeping lady as he calls her. When Beanie looks closer he realizes she is dead. The rest of the story is him searching for the killer. I enjoyed the writing and it was a good book.
2,416 reviews
April 11, 2020
THIS WAS A GOOD MYSTERY READ. IT’S BOOK 1 FOR THE SERIES. I THOUGHT IT WAS WELL WRITTEN AND THE STORY KEPT MY INTEREST THROUGHOUT. I THOUGHT THE CHARACTERS WERE WELL WRITTEN. PERFECT TIME OF YEAR FOR THIS READ. I RECOMMEND READING.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
113 reviews
May 22, 2020
I love cozy mysteries and thought the premise of this book sounded different but I couldn't connect with the characters. They didn't have much personality and too many characters for a book of this length (about 150 pages). Just didn't cut it for me. I received a free ARC copy of the book at my request and am leaving this review voluntarily and honestly.
Profile Image for Jodi Sweet.
1,794 reviews9 followers
June 26, 2020
A murder at a kids Easter egg hunt. Pretty sick place to do that! There were so many twists and turns in this story! Beanie has his work as an investigative reporter cut out for him. Looks like the people living on the ritzy side have pretty damning secrets. Easy read with well fleshed out characters.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
371 reviews
March 18, 2020
I liked the bits and pieces of clues that were scattered throughout the story and the fact that Beanie would die for his wife and kids. The fact that secrets started coming out because of an Easter Egg Hunt which resulted in a dead body was cool. Good story.

Red Robin
Profile Image for Michelle.
10.8k reviews28 followers
March 19, 2020
When investigative reporter Beanie went on his wife's company outing little did he know it would turn into a mystery. This story is full of unexpected twists, suspense, mystery, humor and many suspects. This is a great start to this cozy mystery. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book.
Profile Image for Rhonda.
2,977 reviews48 followers
March 29, 2020
Lots of twists and turns to grab you until the end. Entertaining whodunnit with interesting characters. Good story!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Teresa Reitnauer.
970 reviews5 followers
March 8, 2020
A good whodunit. Wanted to turn the next page to see what next developed. Lots of characters. An interesting read.
2,372 reviews27 followers
March 24, 2020
I enjoyed this story although I actually figured out who the guilty party was before it was revealed.
Profile Image for Carol Ward.
170 reviews3 followers
April 1, 2020
Not for me 😢

Not a cosy 😢 Murders. Spies. Sex. Could only get to 40% read before I gave up. Sorry Rachel Woods, it seemed very well written but the subject was just not for me.
4,417 reviews43 followers
April 28, 2021
Sleepy Lady!!! I enjoyed the story and recommend the book.
Profile Image for Sharon Nevils.
21 reviews1 follower
May 12, 2021
This was so boring I didn't even finish chapter 1 . I just quit .
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews

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