Thursday, April 25, 2019

Review: Foul Play on Words by Becky Clark


Kerry Hammond is here today to review the second book in a cozy series by author Becky Clark.

Foul Play on Words by Becky Clark was released on April 8, in Trade Paperback, by Midnight Ink. It is the second book in the Mystery Writer's Mystery series. Her character, Charlemagne "Charlee" Russo writes mystery novels, and dabbles in solving real life murders. What a great concept, a character who writes mystery novels; I had to read and find out just what kind of trouble she could get herself into.

In Foul Play on Words, Charlee is attending a Portland writer's conference. She is delivering one of the keynote talks and helping out her friend Viv, who is running the conference. When Charlee arrives in Portland, Viv is all in a tizzy. She tells Charlee that her daughter, Hanna, has been kidnapped and they cannot involve the police. Charlee agrees to help Viv run the conference and find Hanna, but as she delves into both, she soon realizes that she may be out of her depth.

I love a good cozy mystery and you can't go wrong with a protagonist who is....a mystery writer. Jessica Fletcher didn't wow us on TV for years without proving that it's a great theme for fiction. The author takes her character's profession and creates a series around what might happen to someone in the business of writing crime fiction. She throws in some humor, sprinkles it with quirkiness, and viola, you have a fun, page-turning read that will keep you guessing until the end.

If you've ever attended a mystery writer's conference, or ever wanted to, this is such a fun read. Behind the scenes at an event like this is a perfect backdrop for a mystery and Clark has a great time making the volunteers as quirky as possible and the venue as authentic as can be. I enjoyed meeting Charlee and this series is one that I will make sure to follow. First step is to go back and read book one. There were some hints to the plot in that book but no outright spoilers, so I think I'm ok.

This book was provided to Mystery Playground by the publisher. The review was fair and completely independent.


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