Review and Giveaway: Town in a Wild Moose Chase

Town in a Wild Moose Chase (Candy Holliday Mystery - Book 3) by B.B. Haywood

Publication Date: February 7, 2012
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pages: Paperback, 322pp
ISBN-13: 978-0425246177

ISBN: 0425246175

(Received for an honest review from Berkley Prime Crime)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, IndieBound

B.B. Haywood on the WEB (Beth and Robert Feeman): website, blog

Books in the series: Town in a Blueberry Jam (2010), Town in a Lobster Stew (2011), Town in a Wild Moose Chase (2012)

CoverArt: Click on the picture for a larger, clear image of the covers in this series.

Excerpt from Town in a Wild Moose Chase

Synopsis: 


In the quaint seaside village of Cape Willington, Maine, Candy Holliday has a mostly idyllic life, tending to the Blueberry Acres farm she runs with her father and occasionally stepping in to solve a murder or two...

It's winter in Cape Willington - and trouble is about to walk right into Candy's life. First, town hermit Solomon Hatch stirs things up by claiming to have seen a dead body in the woods with a hatchet in its back. Then, a mysterious white moose starts appearing around town in the strangest of places.

Meanwhile, the town's annual Winter Moose Fest has drawn plenty of out-of-towners who've come to enjoy the Sleigh and Sled Parade, the ice-sculpting exhibition, and the Moose Fest Ball. As Candy runs around town covering events for the local newspaper, she begins to suspect a link between the body in the woods, the white moose, and several of the town's weekend visitors. But as she hunts for the killer, she's the one who's prey...

Thoughts:

The third book in the Candy Holliday series, Town in a Wild Moose Chase has just as much humor and straight up good writing as the other two books in the series. The writing team of B.B. Haywood has a knack for creating just the right kind of atmosphere for cozy mystery fans. The small seaside town of Cape Willington is perfect for a cozy series, with quirky characters and lots of local events to inspire each book in the series. Readers of all kinds will love the latest addition to a highly entertaining series.

B.B. Haywood has created a cozy series in which each book features a local festival or celebration, which I thought was a really great idea. It allows the writers to come up with some off-beat events for the their fictional town that are intriguing and just a lot of fun to contemplate. I have loved all the titles in the series so far but this one is particularly fun. Being a fan of the North Eastern region, I was happy that this series is set in Maine and thought the authors did an amazing job of getting across the mindset of people who live in that area of the country. 

I also like Candy a lot. She's smart, very intuitive and has a lot going for her beyond the fact that she's a great amateur sleuth. She gets to cover all of the local events including the Winter Moose Fest for the local paper. The  murder that apparently takes place could have happened in the woods behind her place and there's a strange critter being seen around town. Figuring out how it all tied together was just the beginning of this crazy caper. The mystery kept me guessing all the way to the end and I'm a little on the hard to stump side. There was just some many different directions the authors could have went with this one, I couldn't pick which way was the right way... LOL!

There was a lot of comic relief provided by the secondary cast in this one. The subject is of course murder. Not something that is usually light reading fare, but one of the best parts of the cozy subgenre is the ability of the authors to turn a grisly situation into something that isn't quite so emotionally draining. It doesn't take away from the fact that a murder has been committed or that other people are in danger, it just keeps the mood from being so somber. Realistically speaking that may not be plausible, but it is entertaining. 

I recommend this one to cozy fans who like the mildly outrageous and can laugh even when things appear dire for the heroine. It's a great addition to the series and I think readers will find that they can really relate to Candy and the situations she finds herself in. I loved the New England setting, the strange white moose and the overall small town feel of this book. I can't wait to find out what happens to Candy next... and you gotta try Melody's Chocolate Mousse... yum!


Town in a Wild Moose Chase is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.


I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

B. B. Haywood is a pseudonym of writing team Beth Feeman and Robert Feeman. They conceived the idea for the Candy Holliday mysteries while driving around the Maine countryside, stopping at different small towns throughout the state.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of Town in a Wild Moose Chase by B.B. Haywood.

~ You must be a GFC follower or E-mail subscriber to participate.

~ US Addresses only!

~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST March 9th.

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