Valentine's Day is Murder - Review

Valentine's Day is Murder by Carolyn Arnold

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Source: Publisher
Description:  Sara and Sean McKinley are thrilled that their friend Jimmy is giving romance a 2nd chance.  Until the phone call from Jamaica saying that Jimmy has disappeared.  Not only is Jimmy not the type to disappear without saying a word he definitely wouldn't have left his date to pick up the tab.  With the help of their tech savvy employee Adam, Sara and Sean investigate beautiful sunny Jamaica and discover that all is not as it seems in paradise.

Genre: Mystery

Why I Picked This Book: The premise sounded interesting.  How could I resist a mystery set in warm and sunny Jamaica when I'm shivering in January!

My Impression:
Pro: This is my first book by Carolyn Arnold and her writing style drew me in immediately.  While this is the 8th book in the series I didn't feel at a loss to figure out what's going on.  Pretty much the only thing I'm not sure about is what the different companies the McKinley's own are and how they got them.  But since I'm reading about them solving a murder and not investing money with them that didn't bother me too much.  The pacing on the story was fantastic and the character development was just enough.  Arnold did a fabulous job with her 130+ pages and I didn't feel like the plot or character development suffered.  The twists and turns were well done and the reveal was actually a surprise.  Also, Sara and Sean are both former police officers and now run a private investigation business.  The fact that Jimmy's girlfriend called them when he didn't show back up and the fact that they went to Jamaica to investigate made sense and that always makes me happy!

Con:  The dialogue is a little stilted - no one says darling quite that much - but not unreadable.  As well some of the avenues of the investigation weren't as explored as I might have liked but that was most likely a casualty of the length of the book.

Overall:  A fun cozy mystery with likable characters.  The story was action packed yet always clear as to what was going on.  I read this one without any previous knowledge of the series and had absolutely no problems with understanding or enjoying the book.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Definitely!  I look forward to getting to know Sean and Sara a bit better.

Would I Recommend this Book?:  Yes, if you're a cozy reader I think you'd really enjoy this one.  If you've been wanting to read one this might be a good one to try.

Challenges Met? New To Me (Author), Alphabet Soup (V)