Monday, July 25, 2016

Double Dip Dilemma - A Short Mystery by Constance Barker

Dahlonega sitting in for Caesars Creek...
While the weather in Caesars Creek Georgia cools down in November, we do have a few warm and humid days on occasion, much to Stormi’s chagrin. Just as she gets use to the low humidity… Wham!… humid air enters the picture leaving her blond waves like limp noodles trailing down her back. 
This morning the dew point soared as she scampered into the store, right to the long mirror situated at the back wall behind the ice cream case of my shop The Frozen Scoop. Her face fell as she picked up the end of a few strands of hair. You have to understand, Stormi’s hair was her crowning glory. This short, curvy and sassy woman could handle extra pounds and gun wielding murderers, but frizz her hair and she’s on the warpath. She marched back to my shoppe’s door, opened it, and yelled into the wind. “Dang you Georgia humidity for taking the life out of my hair!”
“Get a hat!” I heard someone yell from across the street. I watched as Stormi waved her hand and replied, “Thanks for the tip.” She turned around to look at me as the door to the shoppe swung closed. “My hair tip for the day from ol’ Charlie Ledbetter.” 
I laughed...

My own love life had received an infusion of late. Brandon, Stormi’s brother and I were dating. I was afraid it would be awkward at first, since we’d known each other since childhood, but it actually wasn’t. We still laughed and kidded one another as we always did. Only now, there was more affection to our relationship. And it helped that my little Westie Winchester also 
approved. He accompanied me to the shoppe everyday and was the official customer greeter. Stormi slumped into a chair at one of my tables in the shoppe and Winchester jumped into her lap. “Greg may have to live with it.” I stopped and looked at her. “Something wrong in paradise?”

Stormi sighed as she petted Winchester‘s head. “I don’t know. Honestly I love the man to pieces.” Stormi looked at me. “Did I just say that out loud?” 
I smiled. It was the first time she’d ever said she was in love with any guy. “You sure did.” 
“Then why do I feel so confused 
with a hundred thoughts racing through my head? I feel like I’m on a treadmill and can’t get off. Is this love? Tell me before my head spins off!” 


I couldn’t help but laugh at her. I sat down at the table and grabbed her hand. “You’ll be fine. Love can sometimes hit you like a ton of bricks. For other people it’s a gradual 
climb. You’re one of the lucky ones whose been hit by a love tsunami.”


~~~



Double Dip Dilemma

By Constance Barker

Ahhh, the joys of a small town, especially in Georgia where there's a certain ice cream parlor, where many come to talk and share with neighbors and gossip about their lives and their loves...

But that morning everything stopped when a major vehicle accident occurred right outside the Shop! It looked like 
 a Chevy Malibu was impaled on a parked SUV! The driver started crying as soon as people reached her and proclaimed that her brakes had failed.

Greg. one of the arriving officers was the same man who had sent Stormi her latest bouquet of flowers that morning and she was quite willing to take the opportunity to flirtingly thank him, and embarrass him, while he was working...

The woman had been taken to the hospital and since released but her car was totalled...and as they began to gain information on who she was, the gossip quickly got underway...

With just 30 pages, this short reminded me of a little "minute mystery" that I used to find in a magazine years ago. While this one was, of course, longer, it moves fast and takes readers directly into the work of solving the case... 

 After all, the woman who had been in the car was accusing a specific individual that he had caused it... And by now it had been proven that the brake line had been cut on purpose...

But even with everybody talking about the attempted murder and working to solve it--in this case, it seemed like most of the town was involved...LOL

They still had time for fun and food, especially at a local country music festival...


I attended a George Jones small town concert
years ago...this takes me back!



And would you believe while the mystery is being solved, we have a couple of romances that give us a nice break from trying to figure out whodunit! And it was almost a surprise for me... Still I was guessing and working on it and the story is well worth your time...so if you like short, fun and humorous cozy mysteries...Check out this one!

I found that the development of characters was too low, perhaps because they have been identified in earlier books? In any event, for me it lacked sufficient information to know the characters other than what they were actually involved with in this story. and thus I wasn't interested in reading further.



GABixlerReviews


Constance Barker lives in the Midwest with her husband and two Akitas where she can look out from her screened porch onto a wooded area brimming with activity. Since she was a young girl she read mysteries, often given to her by her grandmother. She loved figuring out who the culprit was and sometimes she was right and other times startled at who the author picked as the assailant. Now she enjoys writing mysteries herself. When she isn't writing stories, she can be found in her favorite vacation spot, Las Vegas or shopping for bargains.

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