Dangerous Curves Boxed Set 1: 3 Cozy Christian Mysteries by K.L. Montgomery – Review by Roxsanne Lesieur.

Dangerous Curves Boxed Set 1: 3 Cozy Christian Mysteries by K.L. Montgomery
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Betrayal at the Beach.

Sunshine Baker work in the Bryce Beach Public Library as a YA and she has been working with the Friends of the Library Committee to organise and throw their yearly Gala to raise funds for the library, as well as her role at the library itself and has been enjoying every minute of it and as the night of the gala arrives, she is hoping that everything will go well and that the invitees will enjoy the evening. From the start it looks like everyone is having fun and the catering, magician act and music are keeping everyone entertained, when the food is served and she finds out that she has to make the first speech and introductions, she is terrified, but manages to get through it and the rest of the evening inscathed, that is until after they have counted the donations and are presenting the total to the audience when there is a crashing of glass and a scream where the crowd is shocked into panic. The Founding Fathers Bible, a priceless artifact has been stolen and when Sunshine goes to check on the donations in the locked room, she is devastated to find out that they have been stolen too.

The police are called and statements are made, but when she arrives at work on the Monday morning, the Chief of Police is there to see her and ask her some questions, however, she is surprised to find out that they suspect one of the employees and that they need the information of all who had access to the room that the donations were being kept in, whether they were at the Gala or not. This has Sunshine worrying and this is increased even more when she goes to see the head of the Library and is asked for her opinion and then to look into it in her own time as well. This spurs her onto asking questions of her friends Evangeline and Molly, drawing up a list of attendees and talking through the events of the night again, but all this does is throw suspicion around with no strong leads bar one, so the next day Molly and Sunshine make plans to talk to them, but in a non-threatening way to try and glean some more information from them about that night. As these conversations take place, more tidbits and accusations are thrown around which are making Sunshine feel even more uncomfortable as they are mostly pointing towards one of her friends and another colleague as the police appear to be less than interested.

As the stakes are raised and jobs are on the line, will Sunshine and her amateur sleuthing skills solve the mystery before jobs and a priceless artefact are lost forever? This is a cozy mystery which will keep you guessing through to the end as the hunt for answers throws light upon a small community with secrets and stories to tell.

Mystery at the Marina.

Sunshine Baker is back and she is still the full YA librarian at the Bryce Beach Public Library and she is still coming down from all the excitement around the founders bible and the theft of the donations a month ago, but she is happy and is spending time with her family, friends and God. As her summer programmes at the library are starting up and the teenagers are actually attending and not falling asleep during them, she counts that as an achievement, so when she closes up for the day, she is ready for an evening of fun with her friends, they are going to a new restaurant which hasn’t long opened and she is really excited, however, she is not sure how she has managed to get there before her friends, even though they left the same place at the same time!

While she is waiting outside the restaurant, she is people watching and happens to hear a conversation between two gentlemen clad in business suits and heading out of the restaurant, she thinks the subject is a bit odd, but thinks no more about it until a couple of days later when she goes for a walk on the beach with one of her friends and their new puppy. As the are walking and chatting away while the puppy explores the area near the lighthouse, they suddenly come across some dead fish washed up on the beach, but they soon find out that it isn’t just near there, it happened over at the Marina side of the cove as well and there are other sea creatures involved this time too. Sunshine cannot help but be curious about the reasoning behind it, so she starts asking questions, however, the police aren’t being helpful, so again, Sunshine takes matters into her own hands.

Sunshine’s investigative tendencies turn up a gear when she starts to see more Coast Guard boats patrolling the area than normal and does her best to see what is happening close up, but as she starts to put things together and the pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place, will she be able to figure out why the sea creatures are dying and who is behind it all? This is a cozy mystery where there are twists, turns, secrets and revelations which you will want hook you in and keep you enthralled until it is solved.

Shooting at the Shore.

Sunshine Baker returns and her library programme is taking off, she even hosted an awards ceremony for the attendees where local people and businesses donated prizes to the winners and everyone had a whale of a time, so she is enjoying life. As she is leaving the library after closing up, she spots a neighbour who donated and prize and funds to the library, so Sunshine wanted to thank her personally, but when she goes to see her, she is surprised by what she is talking about, apparently an outside company is bidding on a piece of land to open some shops, condo’s and restaurants, however, one of them is something which in her eyes, is not family friendly, so she is vehemently opposed to it and intends on outbidding the big city developers. Meanwhile, the ladies witness a crime in progress across the road where Sunshine spots a police officer on a bike and sends them after the criminal before heading home for a girls night where they catch up on the latest gossip and events in each others lives.

At work the next day, another crime is committed in the library of all places and Sunshine quickly gives chase, but fortunately, the police arrive to apprehend the criminal instead, however, when a call comes in over the radio, Sunshine immediately gets the feeling that she needs to be there, so she follows the police on their way over and observes them pulling a body onto a stretcher and it is someone she knows. When she finds out the circumstances of their death, she knows something isn’t quite adding up, especially when she starts to do some research.

As the days pass and Sunshine investigates more while sharing what she has found with the chief of police, she cannot help but think that they are on the wrong track with their investigation and as she digs deeper, this gut feeling becomes stronger and stronger. Will Sunshine be able to solve the mystery and figure out the who, what, where and why of this crime, or the leads she is hoping to follow lead to dead ends? This is another cozy mystery where secrets are revealed and tangled pasts are brought into the present as this small town reels from the death within its borders, while you try and figure out the conclusion to the mystery at the same time as this amateur sleuth.

Review by @roxsannel

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