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Top Shelf #4
Double Shot
Murder and men!
When Daniel Fuller, a hotshot real estate developer, chases a double shot of bourbon at the Top Shelf with a double shot to the chest in the parking lot, the police arrest Trey Franklin, the grandson of Waterton's only taxi driver, Mose Franklin.
It appears to be an open-and-shut case:
--Trey has motive. Daniel was evicting Mose after buying his delinquent mortgage under suspicious circumstances.
--Trey has opportunity. He left the Shelf just minutes before the murder.
--Trey has the means--or at least he might. The police determine a .38 was the murder weapon, and Mose's .38 is missing.
Mose begs Ricki to prove his grandson's innocence, and at first, she refuses. But after talking to Trey, she agrees and sets out to find the real killer.
That should be enough to keep Ricki busy, but she's got more than a murder to solve. Gabriel Russell, the hunky detective who left town to think about their relationship, is back. He wants to pick up where they left off, but Logan Parker, owner/editor of the local paper, wants to fill the vacancy left by Gabe. That's problem enough, but the real problem is that Ricki wants them both.
And then there's that FBI agent...
Sometimes Ricki wishes she'd stayed in New York.
When Daniel Fuller, a hotshot real estate developer, chases a double shot of bourbon at the Top Shelf with a double shot to the chest in the parking lot, the police arrest Trey Franklin, the grandson of Waterton's only taxi driver, Mose Franklin.
It appears to be an open-and-shut case:
--Trey has motive. Daniel was evicting Mose after buying his delinquent mortgage under suspicious circumstances.
--Trey has opportunity. He left the Shelf just minutes before the murder.
--Trey has the means--or at least he might. The police determine a .38 was the murder weapon, and Mose's .38 is missing.
Mose begs Ricki to prove his grandson's innocence, and at first, she refuses. But after talking to Trey, she agrees and sets out to find the real killer.
That should be enough to keep Ricki busy, but she's got more than a murder to solve. Gabriel Russell, the hunky detective who left town to think about their relationship, is back. He wants to pick up where they left off, but Logan Parker, owner/editor of the local paper, wants to fill the vacancy left by Gabe. That's problem enough, but the real problem is that Ricki wants them both.
And then there's that FBI agent...
Sometimes Ricki wishes she'd stayed in New York.
388 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 28, 2020
38 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Lolli Powell
16 books383 followersI'm retired from the nine-to-five life and live with my husband and two cats on private land inside Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky. (The handsome dog with me in the picture went to the Great Dog Park in the Sky March 1, and we miss him a lot!)
I have loved fiction since before I could read (Mom said I made up stories based on the pictures in books). Now that I no longer have the excuse of not enough time, I'm fulfilling my lifelong dream of writing novels.
Over the years, I've paid the bills by being a dancer, a bartender, a police officer, a registered nurse and a technical writer. Now I'm drawing on that life experience and my two English degrees to create stories I enjoy writing and hope readers will enjoy reading.
My Top Shelf cozy mystery series is set in a small fictitious town on the Ohio River halfway between Indiana and the West Virginia border. There are currently six books in the series: The Body on the Barstool, Whiskey Kills, Name Your Poison, Double Shot, Bottoms Up, and On the Rocks. The Top Shelf series features Ricki Fontaine, a New Yorker who moves to small-town Ohio after inheriting a dive bar from her black sheep uncle.
I have two books, The Ghost Wears A Badge and Dead Men Don't Retire, in my Spirit of the Law cozy series. Dead End, the third book in the series, should be out late 2025.
I've also published a contemporary romance, The Boy Next Door, and a standalone romantic suspense novel, The Wrong Kind of Man. I have two books, Death Notice and Undercover in my Kisses and Killers Thriller series. My novella, The Gift, is a holiday romance with a hint of the paranormal.
I also write grittier mysteries and thrillers under the name Laurel Heidtman.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
I have loved fiction since before I could read (Mom said I made up stories based on the pictures in books). Now that I no longer have the excuse of not enough time, I'm fulfilling my lifelong dream of writing novels.
Over the years, I've paid the bills by being a dancer, a bartender, a police officer, a registered nurse and a technical writer. Now I'm drawing on that life experience and my two English degrees to create stories I enjoy writing and hope readers will enjoy reading.
My Top Shelf cozy mystery series is set in a small fictitious town on the Ohio River halfway between Indiana and the West Virginia border. There are currently six books in the series: The Body on the Barstool, Whiskey Kills, Name Your Poison, Double Shot, Bottoms Up, and On the Rocks. The Top Shelf series features Ricki Fontaine, a New Yorker who moves to small-town Ohio after inheriting a dive bar from her black sheep uncle.
I have two books, The Ghost Wears A Badge and Dead Men Don't Retire, in my Spirit of the Law cozy series. Dead End, the third book in the series, should be out late 2025.
I've also published a contemporary romance, The Boy Next Door, and a standalone romantic suspense novel, The Wrong Kind of Man. I have two books, Death Notice and Undercover in my Kisses and Killers Thriller series. My novella, The Gift, is a holiday romance with a hint of the paranormal.
I also write grittier mysteries and thrillers under the name Laurel Heidtman.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 22, 2023
For the third time in a few weeks, someone is murdered right outside the bar owned by our protagonist. The amateur sleuth is on the case. Her supercop boyfriend is back in town, after needing "some time." She's already moving on to the handsome local reporter. Meanwhile an undercover FBI agent is making eyes at her as well. The town makes a pool about who she will choose.
The mystery itself is completely predictable.
The mystery itself is completely predictable.
February 24, 2021
If Scientists Start Looking for the Self-Preservation Gene, They Shouldn’t Check Ricki
It’s not so much that Ricki Fontaine, the hero of the Top Shelf Mysteries, laughs in the face of death as it is that she wisecracks her way through peril. Take the bar owner’s thoughts as she stares down the barrel of a handgun in this latest installment: If she died then her employees “… would be swamped at the Shelf. Murder always increased business, and I liked to think mine would draw more than an out-of-town real estate developer’s.” Of course, as a long-time reader of the series, I knew she was a bit low on the self-preservation trait (like into negative numbers), but I’ll deal with that because there are few fictional characters that make me laugh more than Ricki. I mean, all the life lessons she gives us readers for free! “Murder in close proximity to your person is not conducive to a good night’s sleep, so do your best to avoid it if you can.” Who would have thought that?
Of course, there’s a whodunit to be solved in this mystery series, and like the predecessor books, this one’s good. Mose Franklin and his grandson, Trey, are being evicted from their family home after the Savings & Loan makes an unprecedented decision to sell the delinquent mortgage to an outside developer. Trey gets arrested for the crime. Author Powell, however, keeps us guessing by introducing several other suspects with possible motives – mobsters, mean alcoholics, unscrupulous land developers, even law enforcement. Each is well portrayed through Ricki’s thoughts. But the book also gives us a double shot of mysteries, the second being of the romantic variety. Will Ricki let her past, detective boyfriend, Gabe, back in her life? Or will she take up with the newspaper editor, Logan? And, as the author’s synopsis says, “And then there’s that FBI agent….” I don’t believe it’s a spoiler to say that neither of these mysteries ends in a cliff-hanger.
I had only minor issues with the book (perhaps because it’s tough to have concerns when you’re laughing). There were some minor repetitions in the text, sometimes just a word, and sometimes between Ricki’s thoughts and the dialog: “Victor still had a few things to do, and I shook my head. ‘No, that’s okay. Looks like you’ve still got things to do.’” A more general concern was the emphasis on the Gabe vs. Logan backstory. For my taste, that quandary was repeated a bit too often during the tale. But I suppose if you’re going to live on the edge, it’s better to have someone special when you back away from it.
Overall, Double Shot is an excellent read. I look forward to the next installment in the series, wondering whose warnings Ricki will ignore and how I’ll get along without more of her life philosophy until then.
It’s not so much that Ricki Fontaine, the hero of the Top Shelf Mysteries, laughs in the face of death as it is that she wisecracks her way through peril. Take the bar owner’s thoughts as she stares down the barrel of a handgun in this latest installment: If she died then her employees “… would be swamped at the Shelf. Murder always increased business, and I liked to think mine would draw more than an out-of-town real estate developer’s.” Of course, as a long-time reader of the series, I knew she was a bit low on the self-preservation trait (like into negative numbers), but I’ll deal with that because there are few fictional characters that make me laugh more than Ricki. I mean, all the life lessons she gives us readers for free! “Murder in close proximity to your person is not conducive to a good night’s sleep, so do your best to avoid it if you can.” Who would have thought that?
Of course, there’s a whodunit to be solved in this mystery series, and like the predecessor books, this one’s good. Mose Franklin and his grandson, Trey, are being evicted from their family home after the Savings & Loan makes an unprecedented decision to sell the delinquent mortgage to an outside developer. Trey gets arrested for the crime. Author Powell, however, keeps us guessing by introducing several other suspects with possible motives – mobsters, mean alcoholics, unscrupulous land developers, even law enforcement. Each is well portrayed through Ricki’s thoughts. But the book also gives us a double shot of mysteries, the second being of the romantic variety. Will Ricki let her past, detective boyfriend, Gabe, back in her life? Or will she take up with the newspaper editor, Logan? And, as the author’s synopsis says, “And then there’s that FBI agent….” I don’t believe it’s a spoiler to say that neither of these mysteries ends in a cliff-hanger.
I had only minor issues with the book (perhaps because it’s tough to have concerns when you’re laughing). There were some minor repetitions in the text, sometimes just a word, and sometimes between Ricki’s thoughts and the dialog: “Victor still had a few things to do, and I shook my head. ‘No, that’s okay. Looks like you’ve still got things to do.’” A more general concern was the emphasis on the Gabe vs. Logan backstory. For my taste, that quandary was repeated a bit too often during the tale. But I suppose if you’re going to live on the edge, it’s better to have someone special when you back away from it.
Overall, Double Shot is an excellent read. I look forward to the next installment in the series, wondering whose warnings Ricki will ignore and how I’ll get along without more of her life philosophy until then.
June 25, 2025
This is one of the few series that I enjoy enough to buy the ebooks so I can keep reading the stories. Fortunately for my reading budget, the books are usually priced under the $5 mark :)
Ricki, the MC, is a bar owner who has grown on me as the series has continued. When she first inherited the bar, it was clear that she wasn't a fan of moving from New York City to small-town Waterton, Ohio. Now, four books in, she has changed her mind and *wants to stay in Ohio. She has a good group of friends and co-workers around her, and with a few notable exceptions, they work well together and have each other's backs. Ricki's personal life was a big part of this book, and I'm not entirely sure I'm happy with the decision she made - but there are still two books left for her to change her mind *crossing fingers*
We didn't get to know the murder victim as his body was found quite early in the story. Given his occupation, there were a handful of obvious suspects, but none of them felt quite right to me. As Ricki continued to dig deeper, a few more names were added to the list, and some of them were scary people. The red herrings only threw me off once or twice, and I was pleasantly surprised that the culprit turned out to be the character I hoped it would be :)
I look forward to reading the next book in this series to discover what adventure is in store for Ricki and friends, and what life lessons she will share along the way.
Ricki, the MC, is a bar owner who has grown on me as the series has continued. When she first inherited the bar, it was clear that she wasn't a fan of moving from New York City to small-town Waterton, Ohio. Now, four books in, she has changed her mind and *wants to stay in Ohio. She has a good group of friends and co-workers around her, and with a few notable exceptions, they work well together and have each other's backs. Ricki's personal life was a big part of this book, and I'm not entirely sure I'm happy with the decision she made - but there are still two books left for her to change her mind *crossing fingers*
We didn't get to know the murder victim as his body was found quite early in the story. Given his occupation, there were a handful of obvious suspects, but none of them felt quite right to me. As Ricki continued to dig deeper, a few more names were added to the list, and some of them were scary people. The red herrings only threw me off once or twice, and I was pleasantly surprised that the culprit turned out to be the character I hoped it would be :)
I look forward to reading the next book in this series to discover what adventure is in store for Ricki and friends, and what life lessons she will share along the way.
January 23, 2021
𝑫𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒕, Top Shelf Mysteries, Book #4
by Lolli Powell
This series is one of my favorites. I like the characters, the writing style, and the fact that the author does not feel the need to end her stories with a cliffhanger. That's not to say that the door isn't left wide open for another adventure; it is. But a reader could read each book in the series as a stand alone or just one -- any one -- and walk away satisfied that all is well at the Top Shelf bar.
A bit of a spoiler follows, if you are a follower of the series, but haven't gotten to Book #4 yet. So advance at your peril.
I was also glad to see the change in romantic partners for Ricki, as I have always been on "team Parker." Not that I didn't like Gabe, I did. But he was a little too angsty, a little too domineering, a little too needy. Sometimes a change is good. I imagine there will be a certain amount of back and forth coming in the future, perhaps even starring Waterton's newest resident, an FBI agent who is first introduced as Lee Ryan (although we find out his real name later in the story).
In any case, this was a fun addition to the Top Shelf Mystery series. I did make a couple of bookmarks in the book, but they didn't dim my appreciation of the plot. If you just want a good read that features a strong-willed, competent female lead, this series hits the spot.
by Lolli Powell
This series is one of my favorites. I like the characters, the writing style, and the fact that the author does not feel the need to end her stories with a cliffhanger. That's not to say that the door isn't left wide open for another adventure; it is. But a reader could read each book in the series as a stand alone or just one -- any one -- and walk away satisfied that all is well at the Top Shelf bar.
A bit of a spoiler follows, if you are a follower of the series, but haven't gotten to Book #4 yet. So advance at your peril.
I was also glad to see the change in romantic partners for Ricki, as I have always been on "team Parker." Not that I didn't like Gabe, I did. But he was a little too angsty, a little too domineering, a little too needy. Sometimes a change is good. I imagine there will be a certain amount of back and forth coming in the future, perhaps even starring Waterton's newest resident, an FBI agent who is first introduced as Lee Ryan (although we find out his real name later in the story).
In any case, this was a fun addition to the Top Shelf Mystery series. I did make a couple of bookmarks in the book, but they didn't dim my appreciation of the plot. If you just want a good read that features a strong-willed, competent female lead, this series hits the spot.
April 24, 2021
Off to another murder for Ricki.
This poor girl just wants to run her business, enjoy time with her boyfriend and have a normal life. But someone else has been killed on the Top Shelf property. Her boyfriend broke up with her and she is finding herself attracted to another man. For Ricki, her normal life is one of investigations and ferreting out the bad guys, hopefully not getting killed in the process. But there seem to be no leads in this case and an innocent young man may go to prison for murder. Good luck Ricki, Gabe and Logan as they try to find the real murderer and put the pieces of their lives back together. Will there be a happily ever after?
This poor girl just wants to run her business, enjoy time with her boyfriend and have a normal life. But someone else has been killed on the Top Shelf property. Her boyfriend broke up with her and she is finding herself attracted to another man. For Ricki, her normal life is one of investigations and ferreting out the bad guys, hopefully not getting killed in the process. But there seem to be no leads in this case and an innocent young man may go to prison for murder. Good luck Ricki, Gabe and Logan as they try to find the real murderer and put the pieces of their lives back together. Will there be a happily ever after?
July 1, 2023
Ricki has her hands full in this one. Not only does she have to prove a man's (her friend's) innocence of murder--she also has man trouble. She has to decide which one she would rather date--not as easy as it sounds!!
Is Ricki able to figure out who the real killer is------and who is the lucky guy who gets to be her boyfriend? Lots going on, twists and turns, amd Ricki is lucky she makes it out alive!!!!
Is Ricki able to figure out who the real killer is------and who is the lucky guy who gets to be her boyfriend? Lots going on, twists and turns, amd Ricki is lucky she makes it out alive!!!!
July 18, 2024
Excellent!
The Top Shelf Mysteries just keep getting better and better. Ricki keeps running into dead bodies, but this time her evolvement is at the request of the accused father. As she tries to help Trey and Mose, she finds links to organized crime, real state and banking fraud, federal agents and way way too many men. This series never disappoints, the cast of characters, the interactions, the plotting and writing are all top notch.
The Top Shelf Mysteries just keep getting better and better. Ricki keeps running into dead bodies, but this time her evolvement is at the request of the accused father. As she tries to help Trey and Mose, she finds links to organized crime, real state and banking fraud, federal agents and way way too many men. This series never disappoints, the cast of characters, the interactions, the plotting and writing are all top notch.
August 29, 2023
The best parts of this series and this book are humor and the well developed and likable characters. I feel like I know these people, the primary and secondary characters. The mysteries are well done and I’ve not figured it out ahead of time yet.
There is some closed door intimacy but thankfully no details are shared.
There is some closed door intimacy but thankfully no details are shared.
November 15, 2023
Can't stop reading !
I absolutely love this series! The writing is superb ! Once I get started, I don't want to stop. I highly recommend reading the Top Shelf Mysteries! I wonder how long we will have to wait for the next one! Oh well, worth the wait!
I absolutely love this series! The writing is superb ! Once I get started, I don't want to stop. I highly recommend reading the Top Shelf Mysteries! I wonder how long we will have to wait for the next one! Oh well, worth the wait!
January 28, 2024
Finally! I usually go for the tall dark and handsome but not so when they turn out to want to change the girl of their dreams into their dream girl. Logan accepted Ricki just as she is from day one…so glad Ricki finally figured it out!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 12, 2021
A shooting outside the Top Shelf involves Rikki in a new investigation.
May 20, 2022
very cozy mystery
Lolli Powell writes a very engaging cozy mystery. If you want to read something light and entertaining, her books are just what you need.
Lolli Powell writes a very engaging cozy mystery. If you want to read something light and entertaining, her books are just what you need.
February 27, 2023
A thoroughly enjoyable story with just enough tension, suspicion, and romance.
March 9, 2024
Who killed Daniel Fuller and why??? He couldn't afford to have anyone discover her??? I enjoyed this story and recommended the book.
May 5, 2024
Fun and exciting
I read the whole series in 2 days. It was fun and exciting.
I intend toreas more of Lolli Powell’s books in the future.
I read the whole series in 2 days. It was fun and exciting.
I intend toreas more of Lolli Powell’s books in the future.
August 24, 2024
Riveting Read
This the forth book of the series.
All of them are books you just can’t put down!
I will be reading more of Lolli Powells’ books
This the forth book of the series.
All of them are books you just can’t put down!
I will be reading more of Lolli Powells’ books
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews