by Kathleen Costa

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win an ebook copy of Two Sleuths are Better Than One, and a link to purchase it from Amazon.

Friendliest, Even Deadliest, Town in the Northwest!
The Danger Cove Mysteries from Gemma Halliday Publishing follow a diverse group of heroines with varied occupations and talents, but they always have a keen amateur detective skill set. Each sub-series is penned by a different author partnering with Danger Cove’s well-known writer Elizabeth Ashby. From renovations to a farmers’ market, cocktails to a bakery, quilting to pet sitting, bookshops to hair salons to B&Bs, more than a dozen books, and more in the works, take readers on a delightful adventure with wonderful characters. As part of the Danger Cove franchise, Gin Jones joins in to pen this sub-series crossover book with Maria Delores from her Farmers’ Market series and Keely Fairchild from her Quilting Mystery series.

Gemma Halliday Publishing – Danger Cove Mystery series

Maria Dolores, a former financial planner, has been the market manager for Danger Cove’s Lighthouse Farmers’ Market for a couple of summer seasons now, successfully arranging for a variety of local farms to sell their produce along with participating in her new delivery service. However, circumstances have put her in the middle of more than one suspicious death. Keely Fairchild, a quilt appraiser, has also found success helping others solve mysteries, usually, of course, with a dead body or two. She struggles with a syncope diagnosis, which means when under stress (like finding a dead body), she could easily pass out. They both have supportive boyfriends, too, with Maria’s Merle Curtis, a lawyer and owner of Pear Stripes Orchard, and Keely’s Matt Viera, a journalist and her partner-in-crime-solving. Together the two women (strong, clever, and capable) partner to solve another murder mystery in Danger Cove…Like chips and salsa, they go well together!

Two Sleuths are Better Than One earns 5/5 Salsa Sensations…Clever and Engaging Fun!
Maria Delores is excited about adding a salsa competition to the farmers’ market’s repertoire with amateur and professional chefs, demonstrations, and a contest to find the best salsa. However, Maria gets an alert that the emcee and judge Coach Andy Zielinski has yet to show up…and the event is about to start! While on her search to locate him, she runs into the ladies of the quilt guild working on their latest raffle prize. Emma Quinn, the guild’s president, has been directed to introduce Maria to Keely Fairchild, a quilt appraiser with a knack for investigating suspicious deaths. She has been asked by the quilt guild to look into the death of billionaire Gabe Portillo, a passionate collector of quilts, and make sure no quilter is falsely accused of murder. The big connection? The missing Coach Andy was an acquaintance of the dead guy who was staying in the coach’s guest house…coincidence? No such thing in Danger Cove!

I am a frequent visitor to Danger Cove, and eager to stay for a long time. Joining Danger Cove resident Elizabeth Ashby (What a delightful idea for a writing team!), Gin Jones has “stitched” together her two series into a delightful crossover. Added to her entertaining writing style with vivid descriptions and dialogue that illustrates well the tone and character personalities, she employs a joint first-person narrative trick. Each chapter is labeled “Maria Delores” or “Keely Fairchild” to inform the reader from whose perspective they will be enjoying…clever, not at all confusing. The two women work quite well together with similar ideas on how to proceed in their investigation sharing a distrust of Detective Lester Marshall who himself sees little or no reason to take any layperson seriously. However, they aren’t completely shut out from the local law enforcement since Detective Bub Ohlsen is more open minded. The mystery is very clever, especially since there seems to be no obvious connections between the two murders and the possibility for more is dramatic…put your inner Sherlock into high gear! Disgruntled creditors? Snarky quilters? Wealthy wife? Mistresses, girlfriends? And salsa? Mixing it with some personal peril leads readers to a great conclusion…Loved it!

Salsaaah!
YouTube – Seinfeldisms (0:32)
George: Why don’t they have salsa on the table?
Jerry: What do you need salsa for?
George: Salsa is now the number one condiment in America.
Jerry: Do you know why?…Because people like to say salsaaah!

Salsa enthusiasts unite! Gin Jones has provided the five salsa finalist’s recipes for you to pass your own judgement: Cassidi’s Texas-Style Summer Salsa, Meri’s Dangerously Delicious Roasted Tomatillo Salsa, Merle’s Pear Salsa (I’ve got to try this one!), Matt’s Black Bean Salsa, and Dee’s Quick Corn and Bean Salsa. You’ll find these salsa may have outgrown their chip partner…try them as a sauce replacement with your next BBQ or to impress someone! Yummmmm!

Be a Big Gin Jones!
USA Today bestselling author Gin Jones has partnered with fictional Danger Cove resident Elizabeth Ashby to pen not only the three-book Danger Cove Farmer’s Market Mystery series with A Death in a Flower Garden (2017), A Saying in the Orchard (2017), A Secret in the Pumpkin Patch (2017), but also the four-book Danger Cove Quilting Mysteries featuring quilt-appraiser-turned-amateur sleuth Keely Fairchild: Four-Patch of Trouble (2015), Tree of Life and Death (2015), Robbing Peter to Kill Paul (2016), and Deadly Thanksgiving Sampler (2018). She also penned the six-book Helen Binney Mysteries with the most recent book A Display of Death (2019) reviewed HERE at KRL.
Website – Gin Jones
Gemma Halliday Publishing – Gin Jones
Twitter @giniajo
Instagram – GinJonesMysteries

To enter to win either an ebook copy of Two Sleuths are Better Than One, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “sleuths,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen August 31, 2019. If entering via comment please include your email address. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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Kathleen Costa is a long-time resident of the Central Valley, and although born in Idaho, she considers herself a “California Girl.” Graduating from CSU-Sacramento, she is a 35+ year veteran teacher having taught in grades 1-8 in schools from Sacramento to Los Angeles to Stockton to Lodi. Currently Kathleen is enjoying her retirement revitalizing hobbies along with exploring writing, reading for pleasure, and spending 24/7 with her husband.

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