Vinyl May Not be Dead, but Somebody Is
I know records are having a resurgence. Having been alive during the transition to CDs, I actually find this funny. But a newly resurrected record shop makes a great setting for a new cozy mystery series, and Vinyl Resting Place kicks off this series from Olivia Blacke.
Juni Jessup and her sisters are reopening the family record store in their small town just outside of Austin, Texas. The store had closed years ago, but when the original space became available again, the three of them jumped on it. They’re adding a coffee bar and rebranding it Sip and Spin Records.
The evening before they officially open for business, they are hosting a grand re-opening party. The store is packed with friends and family, and everyone is having a great time. However, after the party, Juni finds a dead body in their storage closet. The victim is holding a business card with their uncle’s name on it.
The next day, their uncle is arrested, and Juni and her sisters are quick to put up Sip and Spin Records as collateral to get him out of jail. Then he disappears. With their business now on the line, can the three sisters figure out what is really going on and where their uncle is?
This book doesn’t unfold quite like a typical cozy mystery – and that’s a great thing. I enjoyed watching Juni work on where her uncle was, what he is up to, and who the murder victim is. This creativity gives us many branches to follow. The book did feel like it was a little slow in the middle, but that is a minor complaint. There are still plenty of twists and turns that kept me reading right up until the climax, which wraps things up in a logical way.
We do have the typical set up of Juni returning to her hometown after some time away. It works well since, as Juni reconnects with family and friends, we meet them as well. I love the cast of characters we meet here, and it was a pleasure spending time with them. Juni and her sisters have a great relationship. You can tell their shared history – there is just the hint of the old sibling rivalries – but they are still able to relate to each other as adults. We also have a bit of a love triangle, but there is a twist to it which is fun. Overall, these characters are relatable. Even the people we meet connected to the crime are relatable.
These relationships provide the basis of the humor in the book. It’s subtle, but there is a fun subtext of humor running through the book, and I was grinning if not laughing as I read. I also loved the punny titles for their daily drink specials.
There was one thing I found odd. A couple of times, we met minor characters, and Juni’s first person narration referred to these characters with the pronouns “They.” The first time this happened, it really confused me, and I went back to make sure there was only one character in the scene or there wasn’t some indication that we had learned the character’s preferred pronouns, but I never found it. I do hope that this doesn’t become a trend in books in general because it is quite confusing to the reader to put pronouns like that in the story without indicating why they are there. If there had been some indication why Juni was using them when referring to the characters, I wouldn’t have been confused. To be clear, I am talking about the poor writing in the scene that left me confused and pulled me out of the story. But it’s a minor complaint overall.
The town where the action takes place is lovely. It’s the type of place I’d love to visit between murders. I do appreciate that it is close to Austin, which allows us to pull in more characters as this series goes, and I hope the series will go for a long time.
Vinyl Resting Place is a fun series debut. I’m looking forward to visiting Juni and her family and friends again very soon.
I was around for the transition to CD's too, and since I had records growing up (and still have some, but with no record player), this series caught my attention. It's already on my ever-growing TBR list. Sounds like a good one, especially with five out of five stars! :)
ReplyDeleteI love the setting of an old fashioned record store
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this one as well and am looking forward to seeing where the series goes. I remember the CD transition too! It was so exciting.
ReplyDeleteI saw an article recently that records outsold CDs last year for the first time in decades. I had a few records when I was young but I mostly remember the transition from cassette tape to CD and on from there. I think my mom still has quite a few of her old records. But what a fun setting for a cozy mystery!
ReplyDeleteAdded to my to-read list. This sounds fun.
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