by Sandra Murphy

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

Snow in Charm, North Carolina? Who would have thought? The timing is right though as Christmas is close at hand.

It’s Everly Swan’s first Christmas at her new iced tea shop. She’s overwhelmed by the number of special orders for holiday cookies, the progressive dinner menu, and her Aunt Fran’s decision to run for mayor against a long-time incumbent. Aunt Clara is fighting seasonal stress by painting garden gnomes as gifts for friends and family.

The night Fran is to make her announcement, the current mayor, Dunfree, drops in at the open house. Fran tells her news, but the mayor has a bombshell of his own. Another candidate, Everly’s high school enemy, will be his running mate. For the first time, Charm will have a deputy mayor.

The mayor, not a nice guy, is set on keeping everything as it is and has always been, down to the oldest and most ridiculous laws. Fran wants to retain the town’s ambiance but also attract tourists – and get rid of some laws, like the one about it’s illegal to carry an ice cream cone in your pocket.

After the big announcement, Fran goes outside to cool off, both her temperature and her temperament. The mayor and his wife leave shortly after. It’s only a matter of a few minutes before a scream is heard, sending guests running to help. Everly is first on the scene, only to find Fran standing over the mayor’s body, bloody garden gnome in hand.

Grady is investigating but Everly doesn’t let that stop her. In spite of his request she stay out of it, she forges ahead, even after receiving threats – which include beheaded garden gnomes.

Although the weather may still be warm, reading about snow on the beach will cool you off and get you in the mood for the holidays. The antics of the aunts, the gnomes, and Everly’s determination to find the truth will keep readers turning the pages.

Sadly, there are no recipes included, but Everly does explain as she cooks so readers will not be disappointed in the food details. The potential for romance between Everly and Grady adds sizzle. Grady’s son adds childlike enjoyment of the holidays.

This is book three in the series. Live and Let Chai and No Good Tea Goes Unpunished, were reviewed for KRL.

To enter to win a copy of Tide and Punishment, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “tide,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen December 19, 2019. U.S. residents only and you must be 18 or older to enter. You can read our privacy statement here if you like. We delete all emails after the contest is over.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. Be sure to check out our new mystery podcast too with mystery short stories, and first chapters read by local actors. A new episode went up last week featuring a Christmas mystery short story by Donna Andrews.

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

Tide and Punishment

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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.