"No one can be lonely who has a book for company." ~ Nelle Reagan

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Death By Bourbon by Abigail Keam

 Death By Bourbon
A Josiah Reynolds Mystery
Author:  Abigail Keam
Published:
Publisher:
Pages:  196
Edition: Trade Paperback
ISBN
Source:  A complimentary copy was provided by First Rule Publicity in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.  The opinions expressed in this review are mine alone.

Available at:  abigailkeam.com, Amazon.com, Barns&Noble.com 
and abigailsoap.com.  Also Morris Bookstore, Lexington, Kentucky.

Life takes a dramatic turn for Josiah when she witnesses a death at an engagement party for Matt. Matt? Yes, Matt.

Charming socialite Addison DeWitt falls into a fit after taking a sip of bourbon. That would be upsetting enough, but Josiah is sure it is murder. However, no one will believe her except for Lady Elsmere and Meriah Caldwell, the famous mystery writer. The three of them conspire to bring the murderer to justice. It turns out the suspect is always three steps ahead of them.


To make matters worse, Josiah’s daughter, Asa decides to move to London, Franklin leaves town and Jake starts singing a different tune. Josiah doubts her ability to meet the future alone. Maybe it’s time to sell the Butterfly and move to Florida with the rest of the old folks.
My thoughts:

Death By Bourbon is a quick little mystery with a spunky protagonist, Josiah, who always finds herself in the midst of death.  She's outspoken, a quick thinker, and a bit judgemental.  All these traits, of course, serve her well when she witnesses the collapse of an acquaintance at a party where she is a guest.  Something just feels "icky" about the whole situation and when she spots the widow at the top landing, peering down at her, Josiah is immediately suspicious.  Against the warnings of a friend who is a police officer investigating the death, not yet determined a murder, Josiah begins nosing around and has a barn fire to thank for her efforts.  Bad turns to worse and Josiah must convince the police of her suspicions before it's too late.

Death By Bourbon is a self-pubished novel, the fourth Josiah Reynolds mystery written by Abigail Keam.  There are some minor but not totally distracting errors within that an editor could clean up but the story is entertaining regardless.  Not so twisted a plot as Agatha Christie or Carolyn Hart, but a decent read to warm a cool winter's night.



Meet the author:
Abigail Keam is an award-winning author who writes the Josiah Reynolds mystery series about a beekeeper turned sleuth.
Death By A HoneyBee won the 2010 Gold Medal Award for Women’s Lit from Reader’s Favorite and was a Finalist of the USA BOOK NEWS-Best Books of 2011.
Death By Drowning won the 2011 Gold Medal Award for Best Mystery Sleuth and also was placed on the USA BOOK NEWS-Best Books of 2011.
Ms. Keam is also an award-winning beekeeper who lives on the Kentucky River in a metal house with her husband and various critters.


3 comments:

  1. Thank you very much for taking the time to review Abigail's novel! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Steve! Mysteries are my favourite genre so keep them coming!

    I just checked out your blog. You have some interesting comments in your most recent post without being biased in your political leanings, which is rare to read of late.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you Shirley! And thank you for visiting my blog I do have a bit of a challenge before me being a very independent person within a highly partisan climate, LOL. I just try to see individuals and not parties, and think about the consequences of policies irrespective of who is putting them forward. Not the popular route, I admit, but that's just the way I am! :)

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