Quick Stats
My Rating:
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Release Date | 2 |
| Length | 256 pages 9 hours 21 minutes |
| Format I Recommend | Audiobook – the narration was great! |
It’s been a while since I’ve done a book review, and this one seemed like a great one to get back at it because…. cozy mystery! I got the audiobook from the library but I happened to have a paperback ARC lying around from when we had a MN Bookstagram meetup at a bookstore that graciously let me have it
So the book – I flew through this one! While I adored the series (By the Book Mysteries) Berry wrote before this standalone (although it seems set up to be a great series) this didn’t quite reach that same tier for me. It was still a fun, fast, and super entertaining cozy mystery.
Amber Winslow heads to Arizona after a breakup and a rough exit from the PI world she was hoping to make her career. She’s looking for a reset and ends up at Seven Ponds Retirement Community to meet her grandmother Jade, a woman she’s never known and has been warned about her whole life. Amber expects bingo nights and early bedtimes. What she gets instead? Cocktails by the pool, a true-crime podcast, and a grandma who seems to thrive on adventure and chaos.
And then (well, because it’s a cozy mystery), someone dies the first night Amber arrives. The victim is an elderly man called the Admiral and, even more suspiciously, his extremely valuable ring vanishes. Fingers start pointing at Jade, but Amber refuses to let her new favorite person take the fall.
What I loved
- Grandma Jade. She is unapologetic, bold, funny, and fully herself. Her confidence and “take me as I am” energy absolutely stole the show.
- The retirement community characters. Quirky, dramatic, gossipy… and more capable than anyone gives them credit for
- Found family vibes as Amber realizes these people might be exactly what she’s been missing
- The narration on audiobook added so much humor and personality, I loved the excerpts from the podcast that started off the chapters
- A potential romance with Ethan that has the perfect slow-burn setup (and I’m proud of Amber for not running back to Bones!)
What didn’t hit as well
- Some side characters could have been built up more
- There’s a lot happening and quite a few characters, but not all of it moves the mystery forward
- A few reveals felt a little over-stuffed, especially toward the end when the mystery is revealed in just a few paragraphs
Still, the vibe, the humor, and the heart kept me turning pages. This was a cozy that’s full of humor and big heart, with a deeper emotional core about belonging, forgiveness, and second chances. And I would absolutely hang out with Grandma Jade!
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