Picking Up The Pieces by J B Abbott Book Review

About the Book:

After her mother’s passing, Katie Chambers returns to Cedar Bay, a serene enclave nestled in the southwest corner of Washington State’s Whidbey Island to support her newly widowed father, Jim Chambers. Stepping into her mother’s footsteps, Katie takes on the role of graphic designer at Cedar Bay Puzzles. With the help of her father, she resurrects her mom’s cherished initiative, the South Island Jigsaw crew, a group of puzzle enthusiasts who gather weekly at the library to test and tackle the latest Cedar Bay Puzzles creations. But when a member of their club is murdered and Jim is the last person to see her alive, resulting in his arrest, Katie and the rest of the gang must use all of their resources to obtain justice for both.

To prove her father’s innocence, Katie reaches out to Connor Crozier, a firefighter and her former flame who shattered her heart seven years ago. With problems piling up at work and a competitor outright accusing CBP of stealing his designs, it is up to Katie to puzzle out the mystery before it’s too late.

My Review:

This is an entertaining cozy mystery and informative about puzzle production. It takes place in a small town where news gets around very quickly. I am always leery when an author writes the main character of the opposite sex. Katie is the amateur sleuth and I thought her a bit naive and impulsive. She jumps to conclusions without thinking. It may be the male authors overdid the female characterization a bit. I liked her puzzle crew, the friends who meet regularly to solve puzzles and help her with the most important one of all. There is the possibility of a budding romance but many difficulties stand in the way. There is a little humor and some snappy dialogue which made reading fun.

For me, a Whidbey Island resident, that setting was the best part of the novel. Reading about familiar places was fun. I must say, it does not rain here as much as this novel would have you think. I was amazed that Katie, missing the mountains of Denver, never commented on the beauty of the Olympic Mountains she would be able to see from her town. And we have fir trees in western Washington, not pine.

I liked this cozy mystery and recommend it to readers who would like one set on an island in a corner of the country.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:

J.B. Abbott is the pen name for the cozy mystery writing team of Brian Tracey and Jeff Ayers.

Crooked Lane Books, 304 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)