Aloe and Goodbye
Aloe and Goodbye: A Southwestern Small Town Cozy Mystery
(Ruby Shaw Mysteries)
by Janice Peacock
About Aloe & Goodbye
Aloe and Goodbye: A Southwestern Small Town Cozy Mystery (Ruby Shaw Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Publisher: Vetrai Press (December 7, 2020)
Paperback: 228 pages
ISBN-10 : 099848198X
ISBN-13: 978-0998481982
Digital ASIN: B08MTP6WYY
New Yorker Ruby Shaw arrives in a hillside town in Arizona with a brand-new name, a duffel bag on her shoulder, and her daughter, Allie, at her side. Before arriving, Ruby witnesses a murder that lands her in the witness protection program. That decision means she’s gone from being a successful artist to being a nobody in a postage-stamp-sized town called Paradise—a name that doesn’t fit the former ghost town. Even though their new digs are a little shabby, and there may be ghosts haunting the town, they are optimistic about their new lives, that is, until a neighbor turns up dead.
Having just arrived in town, living next door to the victim, and without an alibi, the community members are suspicious of Ruby. A local deputy befriends her, but the deputy still points to her as the culprit each time they find a new clue. If matters weren’t bad enough, Allie is having trouble fitting in at her new school, and Ruby can’t seem to hold down a job.
As they settle in, they meet the quirky inhabitants of Paradise: Bette—the chatterbox café owner, Flora—Allie’s eccentric babysitter, and Derek—who runs local history tours, which he jazzes up with ghost stories of questionable veracity.
Ruby’s life improves when she meets a handsome cook at the local café who is passionate about succulents and cacti, and may feel equally passionate about her. Even though Ruby and Allie want to stay in Paradise, a US marshal has other ideas, as he threatens to move them to a new town after Ruby gets mixed up in the murder investigation. Ruby must find the killer before she and Allie lose their new home or even worse—their lives.
My Review
What a great story! I truly enjoyed reading about Ruby Shaw and her daughter Allie's adventure as they spend their first few days/weeks in the tiny town of Paradise. It definitely had that true small town feeling - the one where everyone knows what you are doing long before you do. Being new to the WITSEC program and new to town made it just a little bit more difficult to fit in without everyone knowing this vital secret. To top it all off, the next door neighbor is murdered just a few hours after their arrival to town. Oh, those wagging tongues!
I loved getting to know about the town's people. They had some really great and quirky characteristics about them. I suppose it would take someone a little on the eccentric side to live in a former ghost town. It's these characters that make the little town come to life.
The story itself has a few twists and turns, and just when you think you have it all figured out, it has one more little twist. Overall, a really great read.
About Janice Peacock
Janice Peacock is a cozy mystery author who specializes in craft and hobby mysteries. She loves to write about artists who find new ways to live their lives and perhaps catch a criminal or two in the process. While working in a glass studio with several colorful and quirky artists, she was inspired to write the Glass Bead Mystery Series. The Ruby Shaw Mysteries, which are set in a small hillside mining town, were inspired by her trips to Jerome, Arizona, and Jacksonville, Oregon.
When Janice isn’t writing about amateur detectives, she wields a 2,500-degree torch to melt glass and create one-of-kind beads and jewelry. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and an undisclosed number of cats. Visit Janice online at janicepeacock.com.
Purchase Link – Amazon
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ReplyDeleteThis book sounds like something I would love to read.
Hi Brenda, Thanks for stopping by. I hope you'll check out my book and fingers crossed that you win. :)
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