Dead to Rights - First in New Mackenzie Owens Mystery Series - by Jasmine Webb - A 2024 Personal Favorite For Me!

Apparently, my mouth speaks before my brain has the time to decide whether or not that’s a good idea.”

“It’s only people who are too scared to tell the truth who worry about that sort of thing,” Maggie replied. 

“That’s how I’ve always seen it too,” I said with a small smile. “As far as grandchildren go, I suppose you could be worse.”

I loved this Book! It has all of my favorite things - Book series, a book shop, kitten, cozy mystery and a family simpatico friend with a major age difference... Reminded me of my Great-Niece and myself... (pic is at her wedding)

Maggie looked like she’d just walked out of a Vanilla Ice music video, if Vanilla Ice’s target market had been septuagenarian white people who lived in cozy tourist hamlets on the British seaside. Her slacks had been replaced by jeans that were so oversized they surely must have belonged to Carl, because there was no way she’d have owned them herself. She’d made a belt for them out of a piece of rope that had probably been used to hold up a set of blinds in the past. On top, she had on a soccer jersey, a weird purple-and-green one with ‘AIA’ written in white letters across the front. Over that was a massive gold chain, and on her head was a pair of oversized Ray Bans. She’d finished off the outfit with a baseball cap flipped backward. “Everything,” I replied. “Everything is wrong with that. No one is going to sell drugs to you. You could not possibly look more like an undercover cop right now.” “I don’t look like a cop, I look cool,” Maggie snapped at me. “I’ve got it all: the oversized clothes, the football shirt, the gold chain. I look like someone who would buy drugs.”

“You didn’t know about me at all?” I asked quietly. Maggie had implied as much yesterday, but I wanted to be sure. “No. He never mentioned you. It wasn’t until after his death that Alfred told me about you. Carl didn’t want me to know, he said. But you seem to have done all right for yourself despite the lack of a father figure.” “My mom worked hard to provide for me as a single parent. Although most people would disagree with you. I was always getting in trouble at school. Apparently, my mouth speaks before my brain has the time to decide whether or not that’s a good idea.” “It’s only people who are too scared to tell the truth who worry about that sort of thing,” Maggie replied. “That’s how I’ve always seen it too,” I said with a small smile. “As far as grandchildren go, I suppose you could be worse.” 

“Do you have any others? Grandchildren, I mean.” “No. Carl was my only child, and you’re the only one he had. As far as I know, anyway. But I assume he would have named any others in the will too.” “Have you lived here your whole life?” “Most of it, yes. I moved here with my first husband at nineteen after growing up in Truro.” “What happened to him?” “He died. Christmas Day, 1972. I couldn’t have asked for a better present from Santa.” “Well, this got dark fast. Did you kill him too? There seems to be a pattern here. Am I going to end up on a true-crime podcast?” “He slipped on a patch of ice and hit his head when he insisted on going out. His whole family can attest to the fact that I was in the living room after having told him it was too dangerous and that he really didn’t need to bet on the horses on Boxing Day. But James insisted, and the universe had different plans for him.” “Was he Carl’s father?” “No. That was my second husband, Tim. I married him in 1974. I already lived here. Carl was born the year after that. He died when Carl was one.” “How?” “He was too into coffee.” Maggie obviously didn’t want to talk about it. Maggie grunted, and I cracked a smile at her moxie. “Too bad for you. 

Can’t divorce your grandkids. By the way, tea sucks.” “That’s your American upbringing. Never learned to enjoy a proper cuppa. Very disappointing. I’m not sure we’ll be able to live together if you don’t like tea.” “If that’s a deal-breaker for you, you’d never make it these days. I once had a roommate who secretly decided to breed snakes in her room as a side hustle and didn’t tell any of us. She got drunk one night, opened the terrariums to feed them, and passed out without closing them properly. You can guess how that ended.” “Did you evict her?” “No, because she paid the rent on time, and as far as roommates go, that’s far from the worst story you’ll ever hear.” “Well, I’ve never had a roommate. I lived with my parents until I married James. Then, after his death, I lived alone in the house we owned until I married Tim. We worked hard to buy property.” “Yeah, I could have worked hard and saved too, when homes cost six dollars.” “Oh, please. It was a little bit more difficult than that.” “Your first down payment probably couldn’t buy a footlong at Subway anymore. Believe me, if homes still cost the same as they did back then, I’d have one. It sounds better than finding out about your roommate’s snakes at three in the morning.” “I imagine it would.” 

The two of us stood across from each other in frosty silence. This felt a bit like the end of the Cold War. We weren’t actively trying to kill each other anymore, but there was very little trust there. “What are your thoughts about the bookshop?” I asked. “I haven’t got any. Thought it was a waste of time. A vanity project. Carl wasn’t making any money from it. He pretended otherwise, but I know the truth. It’s not a real business. You ask me, you should have stayed in America, where you had a job that you say you did well. Although if you were willing to drop it to come here and run a bookshop, I’m not sure how much sense you really could have.” “If the universe drops a bookstore into your lap in the most beautiful part of England and says ‘Here, this is yours now to do with what you want, oh, and you also get a house with it,’ there isn’t a millennial on this planet who would say no to that. I’m literally living the dream that has existed in a whole bunch of memes.” “What is a meme?” 

“Do you not use the internet at all?” “Of course I do. I’m old, not a Luddite.” “Then how do you not know what a meme is?” “I choose not to partake in social media, as I find it to be a vain expression of self-gratification that serves no use to anybody.” “Well, you’re not entirely wrong. But so you’re not sitting there on Facebook adding a new status that just says ‘how to download PDF to computer’?” “I am not, and I’m offended you asked. I know how to use the internet.” “Questionable, since you don’t know what a meme is.” “I’ve told you, I’m not interested.” “I’m not interested in tea, but I can still tell you’re drinking Earl Grey. Just because you’re not interested in something or are ignorant about it doesn’t make it unimportant.” 

“Touché,” Maggie replied. “Anyway, a meme is a usually funny photo that works its way around the internet, often with small changes to make the meme fit the topic. And a lot have to do with having the opportunity to change your life by going somewhere romantic in a way that’s completely unrealistic. Like getting left a bookstore in Cornwall, along with a house. That doesn’t happen to people in real life. Most of the time. So when the universe dropped it into my lap, I figured I had to do it. When else will I ever get the opportunity to do something like this? Never. There will always be other marketing jobs. But this? No, this is once in a lifetime. 

The memes just never mentioned sharing with a psychopathic grandmother you didn’t know you had.” “Please. I’m not a psychopath.” “You don’t drink coffee. Oh, and you already tried to kill me once.” “Tea is far superior.” “So you’re not going to be involved in the bookstore at all?” “No. If it were up to me and you weren’t around, I’d be closing it down permanently.” “What’s wrong with it?” “Everything. No one reads books anymore, and those that do are doing so on those newfangled e-readers or their phones.” “I don’t think that’s true. Sure, reading electronically is on the rise, but there are lots of people who still enjoy the smell of a fresh paperback. The sound of flipping through the pages of a new purchase. The slightly grainy feel of the paper beneath their fingertips.” 

“Well, even if you’re right, the problem Carl had was he thought he was in Central London. Honestly, you’ve never seen a more boring selection of books in your life. It was as though he simply went through the Sunday Times every week and ordered every book that’s on the bestsellers list without bothering to look at any others. Bestsellers only.” I nodded. “There’s no way that would work here. This is a small village, a cozy town, that requires a more curated touch.” “Precisely right.” “Where did the money come from for Carl to start his business? And why did he do it?” “He trained in finance and worked in the City in London. He moved back here to be with his childhood friends. He told me he grew tired of the fast-paced life in the City and wanted to come homes. Put all of his money into the bookshop, thinking it would be a hit. It wasn’t.” “It was losing money?” “I assume you know virtually nothing about my son’s finances?” “No. Only that I own half of this house and bookstore.” “There was almost nothing else. If he hadn’t died, I expect this next year would have been his last in business. He’d have found himself with no other choice but to close up shop and to move back to London. 

It’s why I think you should give up before you start, frankly. The store is a money pit. Save yourself what little you have left. It might be nice to dream of a romantic life on the internet, but reality is quite a bit different.” I shrugged. “It’s not like I have anything else to do. I might as well give it a shot. I didn’t see much of the village yesterday, but I get the impression marketing specialists with a degree in graphic design aren’t in very high demand around here.” “No, you aren’t wrong. All the same, there are better ways to spend your time than to essentially light what little money you have on fire.” “I could always spend it all on avocado toast instead,” I replied. Maggie cracked a smile. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s all yours. But don’t get your hopes up. Do you know where the shop is located?” “I’m told its right in the center of town.” “Exactly. I haven’t been there since he passed, but you would have been sent a key. It’s yours to do with as you wish.”

~~~

Through a series of secrets, mistakes, and, ultimate revelation, our main characters--Mack and Maggie met one day. It was a happy day for both of them, since they both thought they had just received an inheritance. Maggie had lost her son recently, while Mackenzie (Mack) had learned that her father, with whom she had never had a relationship, had died and left her his estate...

Mack had just been fired, due to nepotism, but was thrilled to learn that she had just been awarded her dream... A Bookstore! So she had quickly made all arrangements to leave America! She would be traveling to Cornwall... She was excited about the beauty of her new environment, and quickly found her new home, opened the front door with the key she had been sent by the law office and was thrilled to be walking into her new home...

Only to be immediately threatened by somebody who was seriously making an effort to murder her! Long story short, Mack and Maggie was to inherit half of Carl, Maggie's sons, inheritance. The law office had made the mistake, which they immediately made light of... After all, they were relatives and surely could easily share the house and bookstore! NOT! At least that was the immediate reaction from both of the women. Maggie had the even bigger shock since she had never known she had a granddaughter. Mack had never known of any relatives so she was simply happy to have an unexpected gift at the best time...

Actually, Mack and Maggie soon knew that it would be a necessity, both had sold their previous homes. They would have to accept the confusion and try to make the best of it... But, let's face it, Maggie had been prepared to attack, perhaps murder Mack... And so it was quite easy for her to continue to blame Maggie. Maggie more or less just said, "live with it." So they did...

At least until Mack had gone to the bookstore to see what needed to be done to get it up and running. Only to find a man, dead on the floor, with a knife sticking out of him. She did check to be sure he was gone, and then called Maggie: 

I pulled out my phone and called Maggie. I didn’t know what else to do. “Don’t tell me you’ve got lost in a two-street village,” she answered. “Don’t tell me you’re the one who left a body in your son’s bookshop,” I replied.

The next time she went into the Shop was after the police had released it and she was beginning to clean and paint... Suddenly there was a loud noise. Mack immediately stopped, telling herself that she refused to consider that the stop was also haunted--already!

Instead... she found a kitten which had fallen from the furnace piping...

Soon she was purring and kneading biscuits on my thighs.

 

Mack looked around and could not find either the mother cat or other kittens... Suddenly she was being told that a cat or kitten would just appear whenever one was needed... but Mack wasn't sure that Maggie

would be interested in yet another member of the family, but that worry was soon put to rest as Slightly Burnt Toast (Toast for short) was soon chowing down and letting both of them know where she found the most

comfortable to sleep... and I might as well finish that subplot, that Toast's pawprints were soon enshrined on the Bookstore floor, and she was there looking out the windows on the day the shop was to reopen then jumped up on the table in the front window where dozens of new books were displayed, and quietly went to sleep until the first customer came through the door!

Ok, with a cozy, you have probably already guessed that Mack and Maggie were going to be the amateur investigators... and they proved to be very good at it. At least until Mack was attacked while taking a brief hike, while waiting for an appointment, and wound up being pushed into the water and fighting to stop from drowning! Everybody accepted that it was probably the killer who had tried to stop the investigation. But that didn't help in identifying just who it could be!

For me, I had no chance to solve the mystery when it turned out that Mack had discovered a book, but it was in code...Could Maggie figure it out, since she was a local? Soon the two were going all over the surrounding area, talking to anybody and everybody. And, actually, making a number of new friends who were excited by all the new events occurring in their slow, sleepy town... And, suddenly Mack knew who it was... The giant twist that had her looking for books was a fun and fascinating way to identify the guilty one. I "thought" I knew...and was wrong!

Yep, I love a book which keeps be guessing up until the reveal... And, as soon as I finished it, I downloaded the next in series! So, be on the lookout when you see Toast pop up next at Book Readers Heaven... I have to tell you an interesting truth about this book. I had read several important books straight in a row, and was feeling depressed... It only took the first scene of this book that had me laughing and happy... That's what this book will bring you! So if you are just tired of your reality--whatever that may be--I'm willing to say that if you are a cozy lover, this is a must-read to make you laugh and enjoy page after page after page!

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