Murder On Cape Cod
Series: A Cozy Caper Book Group Mystery Book #1
Author: Maddie Day
Publisher: Kensington Books
Page Count: 320
My Rating:
Book Summary
A Cape Cod shop owner and her book club must find a crafty killer in this charming new series from the Agatha-nominated author of the Country Store Mystery series.
Summer is busy season for Mackenzie “Mac” Almeida’s bicycle shop, nestled in the quaint, seaside hamlet of Westham, Massachusetts. She’s expecting an influx of tourists at Mac’s Bikes; instead she discovers the body of Jake Lacey. Mac can’t imagine anyone stabbing the down-on-his-luck handyman. However, the authorities seem to think Mac is a strong suspect after she was spotted arguing with Jake just hours before his death. Mac knows she didn’t do it, but she does recognize the weapon—her brother Derrick’s fishing knife.
Mac’s only experience with murder investigations is limited to the cozy mysteries she reads with her local book group, the Cozy Capers. So to clear her name—and maybe her brother’s too—Mac will have to summon help from her Cozy Capers co-investigators and a library’s worth of detectives’ tips and tricks. For a small town, Westham is teeming with possible killers, and this is one mystery where Mac is hoping for anything but a surprise ending…
More Facts for Readers about our Sleuth & Setting:
Main Sleuth: Mackenzie (Mac) Almeida
Best friend/ Sidekick: Doesn’t really have one
Physical Description: light-skin mixed race woman of color, active, black curly hair
Grandmother is a black woman, Grandfather & Father are Cape Verdean, Mother is white (?). Sorry, I did my best to get a handle on the genealogy for you all!
Age: Mid-Thirties
Location: Westham, Massachusetts
Business: Mac’s Bike (a bike shop)
Time of Year: June-July
Pet: A Parrot
Love Interest: Tim, owner of local bake shop
Family: Mom, Dad, Older Half-Brother, Niece, Grandmother
Diversity? Yes! Our main sleuth appears to be a mixed race woman of color and we so we learn a lot about the Cape Verdean culture throughout the book including words in the Kriolu language. It seems that it’s a beautifully blended family of not only skin tones, but cultural backgrounds and generational experiences. Even our sleuth’s niece has a French mother who is frequently mentioned. The blended cultures are really delightful, and although it’s a little intense trying to keep the family dynamics in order, it adds something really special and unique to this series!
My Review
‘Murder on Cape Code’, Book 1 in the Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery series by Maddie Day was intense. Main sleuth Mac stumbles over the dead body of a local handyman and right into the middle of a murder investigation. It’s easy to see the murder weapon belongs to her brother and with the way he’s been acting he looks more like the culprit everyday. Can Mac prove it wasn’t him? Or will he dig himself in too deep?
This book is very fast paced. Each sentence is delivered as a fact before we’re onto the next line. At first blush the writing style seems disjointed with each line is stated abruptly rather than flowing together. This is not my go-to writing style. The main sleuth asked herself A LOT of questions and often times it felt like she was jumping to conclusions and asking questions from left field. There are many folks who like a quicker pace, but I noticed reviews that stated there were “holes” in the story. I don’t think there were holes, but I do think that since things were mentioned and not elaborated on, and there were so many facts, that little details were easily forgotten.
But once I got into the rhythm of this author and accepted this as her style the story went smoothly. After all, not every author needs to write or sound the same in this genre. It’s great to have options. Overall, I liked the story and I was guessing as the the culprit and the motive right up until the end. And there were some very unique and interesting characters. We were also introduced to some different cultures not strictly from the white perspective, which is always appreciated. And I would definitely read the next book in the series. This is a good beachy/summertime read and it certainly gets you in the mindset for a beach weekend.
