Book Review: Blown Away by Clover Tate (Kite Shop Mysteries #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Lovely location, good twists for mysteries

Cons: Emmy’s anger issues, some pacing

The Bottom Line:

A lovely setting

And a mostly strong debut

Make this worth reading

Opening Day Does Not Turn Out as Emmy Hoped

It always amazes me when a new theme for a cozy mystery emerges, and I think to myself “Why haven’t we seen that before?”  That was the case with Blown Away, which starts the Kite Shop Mysteries.  While I didn’t fly kites too much as a kid, I certainly was interested in reading this debut.

Emmy Adler has moved from Portland to the small town of Rock Point on the Oregon coast to open Strings Attached, a kite shop.  She’s even living in the home that her friend Avery Cook owns right on the beach.  She’s super excited about starting this new chapter in her life.

In fact, she’s so excited that she wakes up super early on the day her shop is supposed to open.  Taking her dog, Bear, to the beach for a walk, they make a grisly discovery – a dead body washed up on the rocks.  Being new to town, Emmy doesn’t recognize the man, but the identification is quick – Miles Logan, who was the chef as the gastropub in town.  He also used to date Avery, making her the prime suspect.  Emmy knows her friend couldn’t have done it, but no one seems willing to listen and the evidence seems to be piling up against her.  Can Emmy find the killer despite everything going on?

I fell in love with the setting in the first chapter.  Rock Point is one of those small coastal towns that thrives on tourists – the kind of place where you want to settle in and live when you pass through them on vacation.  I was smiling as Emmy was describing the place to us.

Not that we had too long before the body turned up.  Emmy’s discovery ends the first chapter of the book, and the drama starts right away.  I did feel the pace was slightly off at times, but there were some good twists before we reached the climax.  Everything made perfect sense at the end, too.

Emmy was an interesting main character.  She seemed to get angry at other characters easily, especially one or two nemeses.  At times, I could certainly understand her frustration since it seemed no one was willing to believe her that Avery was innocent.  Other times, it seems very over the top.  The other characters are varied and well developed, which helped keep my interest as I was reading.

Overall, the strengths made this book soar, at least in my mind.  I’m looking forward to visiting Emmy and my new friends in Rock Point again, soon.  If you haven’t met them yet, read Blown Away soon.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book.