Bar Contests, Treasure Hunts, and Murder
It’s always a joy when Sherry Harris has a new book coming out. Her inventive plots and great characters have made her one of my favorite authors. Rum and Choke is another winner.
This is the fourth book in the Chloe Jackson, Sea Glass Saloon Mystery series. Chloe is a former librarian who moved to the Florida panhandle when she got a surprise inheritance from her best friend. Along with the friend’s grandmother, Chloe is the part owner of the Sea Glass Saloon, a bar that opens up to the beach.
It’s been ten months since Chloe moved down to Emerald Cove, Florida, so she hasn’t heard of the Barback Games before. It’s a contest and features a series of obstacles and bar related events that employees of various local bars compete in. Chloe has been drafted to participate for the Sea Glass Saloon, but she is worried when she learns that some bars hire ringers to compete for them. When she meets some of her competition, Chloe is definitely afraid that she is in over her head.
Meanwhile, her friend Ann asks her to help with a treasure hunt. Ann is a descendant of the pirate Jean Lafitte, and Ann thinks she’s found a map that will lead her to one of his ships that sunk nearby centuries ago. Chloe agrees to go out when Ann dives at the most likely spots one morning. However, their trip ends suddenly when Ann finds the body of one of the barback games contestants. Why is he down there? When Ann and Chloe fall under suspicion, Chloe jumps in to figure out what is going on. Will she solve the mystery?
Between the two storylines, there’s more than enough to keep us engaged the entire way through. It also means that the story unfolds differently than it might in a typical cozy mystery. That’s a good thing. I was fully invested in both storylines, and watching Chloe piece things together at the end was wonderful. The climax wraps things up perfectly, and I was left very satisfied.
Meanwhile, I love spending time with the characters. Ann has been a background character so far in the series. It was nice to see some of the mysteries surrounding her be resolved as we got to spend more time with her. Chloe faces some dilemmas, and I enjoyed seeing how she worked through them. The other characters are just as fantastic as always. The new characters fit in well with the characters we’ve already met.
Since this book is set in April at the beach, it is the perfect antidote to winter weather. Even the cold (for us) weather we’ve been having in Southern California.
As someone who doesn’t drink, I might not have picked up this series if it weren’t written by Sherry Harris. I’m so glad I did since I have enjoyed every book in the series. Whether Rum and Choke is your introduction to Chloe or you’ve been reading since the beginning, you’ll love spending time with her here.
Have another round with the rest of the Chloe Jackson, Sea Glass Saloon Mysteries.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.
This looks like so fun! This series is on my TBR and I love that this one involves treasure hunting!
ReplyDeleteThat title! I like that it has 2 storylines too
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