by Sandra Murphy

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of Comic Sans Murder, and a link to purchase it from Amazon, and an indie bookstore where a portion of the sale goes to help support KRL.

In Star City, Utah, Clare Henry works with her grandfather at The Rescued Word. They repair typewriters, books, and save old typesetting fonts. It should be a calm and relaxing place to work, but that’s not always the case.

For one thing, world-famous horror author, Nathan Grimes, is in town. He’s self-publishing a book of love poems, a project decidedly different than his usual writing. By self-published, he means everything from selecting the font, setting the type letter by letter, choosing the paper, and binding the book—at The Rescued Word. He’s often a pleasure to work with but sometimes a bit of a pain when he doesn’t get his way.

An old high school friend, Lloyd, sends a gift to Clare at the shop. That’s odd enough in itself since she hasn’t seen or heard from him since then, but the gift is a valuable one—three antique typewriters, a mix of a sewing machine, player piano, and history. When a tourist finds a ski boot on the slopes, he plans to take it to the lost and found. That is, until he realizes the foot is still inside the boot. Sadly, the rest of the body is discovered, and it’s Lloyd.

Lloyd was invited to return home for a meeting with three other men. One owns a textbook publishing house, one is a oil man from Wyoming, and the other is a police detective in Star City and Clare’s ex-boyfriend. He’s also brother to Clare’s BFF, Jodie, also a cop. No one seems to know why the meeting was called, who called it, and why the four of them were selected. Creighton, the detective, dismissed the idea. Howard, the oil man, decided it was a good excuse to visit home. Donte, the publisher, still lives in the area with his high school sweetheart, Sarah, who just opened a bookstore.

The mystery is a potential book for Nathan but more personal for Clare. The more they find out, the more puzzled they are.

This is the third book in the series. Readers will learn a lot about old-fashioned publishing, fonts, paper, and inks, but it’s in bits and pieces throughout the book and never gets in the way of the story. Star City is a good place to visit, although after reading about all the snow, a hot toddy may be in order. While it seems there are cozy series for every craft or hobby, this one is unique. The mystery will keep readers guessing right until the end.

Jody’s potential romance shows promise. Clare’s romance, even more so. As for Nathan, I, for one, hope he moves to Star City and becomes a regular sight on the pages. He’s a keeper. Plus, there’s a cat and a surprise when one of the antique typewriters prints out its first message.

Shelton also writes the Farmer’s Market mysteries and the Country Cooking School series.

To enter to win a copy of Comic Sans Murder, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “comic,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen January 27, 2018. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address, and if via comment please include your email address.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section.

Use this link to purchase the book & a portion goes to help support KRL & indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy:

Comic Sans Murder

You can also use this link to purchase the book on Amazon. If you have ad blocker on you may not see the link:

Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch in St. Louis Missouri. She writes about eco-friendly topics, pets and wildlife for magazines and reviews mysteries and thrillers for KRL. A collection of her short stories, published by Untreed Reads, From Hay to Eternity: Ten Tales of Crime and Deception can be found at all the usual outlets. Each one is a little weird and all have a twist you won’t see coming.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases using those links. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.