Gator Queen

Tara Lush

Mar 2024 · 8th Note Press

About this ebook

Full of laughs, hijinks, and a bit of steam, Gator Queen is a cozy mystery plus romance fusion perfect for fans of Arsenic and Adobo and To Have and to Heist

" You're the girl who traps gators?" Even in the quirky town of Wahoo, Florida, twenty-five-year-old Maggie Andrews is an anomaly—a petite but determined female gator trapper who isn't afraid to get dirty. But to fulfill her father's dying wish, Maggie left her job at the Boston Zoo to take over the family business and reunite with her twin sister Vera.

Enter Jack Bianchi—a criminology professor from Miami who is renting a room from the twins. Jack's smart, good with Maggie's kitten, and hot as hell. But while Maggie's debating whether she has time for a steamy fling, Vera's getting into hot water. When a rival gator trapper turns up dead in a swamp full of bullets from Vera's stolen gun, she's the prime suspect.

Maggie and Jack naturally pair up to investigate... And, to keep from arousing the suspicions of Vera's sketchy boyfriend, pretend to pair up romantically. It turns out that fake dating and finding a killer are more dangerous than trapping an angry twelve-footer, but Maggie isn't about to let her family's legacy, Vera's fledgling romance bookstore, or her situationship with Jack go down without a fight.

Ratings and reviews

In Wahoo, Florida, petite gator trapper Maggie reunites with her twin Vera after their father’s death. Their lives take an unexpected turn when Vera’s gun is linked to a murder. Maggie and charming criminology professor Jack pretend to date while investigating the dangerous truth. Love this! The writing style is engrossing, the characters fun, and the plot fast-moving and suspenseful. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series! Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received.

Oh my gosh. That was one heck of a ride. I kind of don’t know what to say about this book other than that it was a ridiculous lot of fun. The mystery was good. There were several possible suspects, and I was kept guessing who the ultimate villain would turn out to be for most of the book. I’m not sure that I really got to know Maggie or her sister very well (yet) so I’m quite curious to see where this series is going to take them in the future.

About the author

Tara Lush is a RWA Rita finalist, an Amtrak writing fellow and the winner of the George C. Polk award for environmental journalism. She also writes contemporary romance set in tropical locations under the name Tamara Lush. For many years, she was a journalist with The Associated Press. Tara is a fan of vintage pulp fiction book covers, Sinatra-era jazz, 1980s fashion, tropical chill, kombucha, gin, tonic, seashells, iPhones, Art Deco, telenovelas, street art, coconut anything, strong coffee and newspapers. She lives on the Gulf coast with her husband and two dogs.