News and Nectarines: A Small Town Cozy Mystery

Carly Winter

Jul 2020 · Tri-Town Murders Book 1 · Westward Publishing

About this ebook

She's trying to report on the facts, but someone is framing her for murder.

A local nectarine orchard burning to the ground is front page news, and as the only reporter for the Tri-Town Times, Tilly Donner is determined to uncover the facts and find out who started the fire. That is, until she finds the main suspect with a knife in his chest, taking his dying breaths.

With the help of her two best friends and the local small town gossip vine, Tilly uncovers clues to help the police solve the case. But her plan backfires when the Sheriff believes the evidence leads to Tilly being the killer.

Can Tilly discover who committed the murder and prove her innocence before her reputation and life are ruined?

"News and Nectarines: A small town cozy mystery" dishes up mystery and mayhem with a dash of humor! Tilly Donner is every woman trying to find her way back from a failed relationship. She's stronger than she thinks she is, but that's part of her journey in this story. The mystery is light and quick with plenty of suspects. "News and Nectarines: A small town cozy mystery" will keep readers turning the page. - Ind'Tale Magazine

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Ratings and reviews

Tilly Donner is a reporter for a small town in California called Oak Peak. Her neighbor has a nectarine farm that has gone up in smoke. Being the only reporter in town it is up to her to find out what happened. Oh and also one of her other neighbors has been murdered, and she just happened to find the body. She is off to solve his murder mystery, and also get to know the hot new neighbor along the way. Great start to a wonderful new series by an awesome author. Can't wait to read the next book.

At 1 a.m. fireworks went off in Mr. York’s yard and caught the Ruperts’ nectarine orchard on fire next door. The noise startled Tilly Donner from a sound sleep, and as the cat raced from the room, the dog dove under her blankets which tangled her legs and, hitting her head on the nightstand, she crashed headfirst onto the hard floor. A dozen more calamities occurred as she raced to the closet to get dressed, but at least was now awake enough to cover the story as the only reporter for the Tri-Town Times! Mr. York had stored fireworks for someone else in his shed for 22 years – they were made illegal by the current Mayor Shelton’s father back then when another incident burned the entire town to the ground. When Tilly questioned Mr. York further, “off the record”, he told her the fireworks actually belonged to Mayor Shelton! He was thinking of allowing fireworks again. Mr. York said he didn’t know who had lighted the fireworks, but she didn’t believe him. Deputy Byron Mills drove up to ask what happened. Tilly had dated him a couple times, but summed him up as brawny and brainless. He couldn’t even take the hint when she didn’t answer his calls or texts. But she walked home while Mr. York answered his questions. Her dog had thrown up and got the runs from nerves over the fire, so she spent a long night cleaning. Ten minutes before her alarm would go off, Minnie Johnson was banging on her door to ask if she had seen her cows that ran away when the fireworks scared them. Tilly’s alarm clock went off upstairs, and she went into the shower only to find she was out of shampoo. So with greasy hair, bags under her eyes, and a black & blue lump on her forehead, she dressed and knew this was not going to be a good day… AGAIN. She got into her truck but stopped at Mr. York’s house to see how things went the previous night. He didn’t answer the door, so she walked around back. Near the shed, she found him on the ground with a knife in his back. He could hardly speak, but said he knew who lit the fire and “they” did this to him. She ran to get her phone from her truck and he was dead when she ran back to him. With the help of her two best friends and the local small town gossips, Tilly finds clues to help the police solve the case – until the Sheriff believes the evidence points to Tilly as the killer! Can she find the real murderer before she is arrested for the crime? I liked the overall story and the characters. The “Perils of Pauline” approach where everything goes wrong all the time again and again, is a fun way to make readers laugh. But it got very tedious when there was no end to it. Way too much overkill that ruined the “fun” effect that fewer events would have created. The characters were likable and I did enjoy the book.

News and Nectarines is the first book in the Tri-Town Murders series and is a great start to this new series. I found this to be an entertaining small-town cozy mystery. Reporter Tilly Donner creates mayhem as she goes about trying to solve the murder of her neighbour. The characters are well depicted and likable. The storyline is well written and engaging, with humour, murder, mystery, and small-town gossip. I am looking forward to reading more books in this series. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

About the author

Carly Winter is the pen name for a USA Today best-selling and award-winning romance author. When not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading and enjoying the fantastic Arizona weather (except summer - she doesn't like summer). She does like dogs, wine and chocolate and wishes Christmas happened twice a year.