Rhythm and Clues: The Record Shop Mysteries

by Olivia Blacke

Overview

The rhythm is gonna get you.

It’s been five whole months since the last murder in Cedar River, Texas, and Juni Jessup and her sisters Tansy and Maggie have been humming along when disaster strikes again.

Their struggling vinyl records shop/coffee nook, Sip & Spin Records, is under pressure from predatory investors, though the Jessup sisters aren’t ready to face the music and admit defeat. But the night after their meeting, the sketchy financier is killed outside their shop during a torrential Texas thunderstorm that washes out all the roads in and out of town. Now the sisters find themselves trapped in Cedar River with a killer, and Juni is determined to solve the case.

When the river spits out an unexpected surprise, Detective Beau Russell asks for Juni’s help, never predicting her investigation will spin her into danger. Up until now, the Jessup sisters have been playing it by ear, but with the whole town watching, can they catch a killer before he strikes again?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250860125
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/26/2024
Series:	The Record Shop Mysteries , #3
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	46,221
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 4.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

OLIVIA BLACKE (she/her), author of the Record Shop Mysteries, beginning with Vinyl Resting Place, and the Brooklyn Murder Mysteries, finally found a way to put her Criminology degree to good use by writing quirky, unconventional, character-driven cozy mysteries. Olivia is a little nerdy, a lot awkward, and just the right amount of weird. She is a recovering ex-Texan who resides with her husband Potassium and Baileycakes, their roly-poly rescue puggle. When not writing, reading, or spending way too much time on social media, Olivia enjoys Amigurumi crochet, SCUBA diving, collecting tattoos, watching hockey, and baking dog cookies. She wants to be a unicorn when she grows up.

Editorial Reviews

A cute and curious whodunit plays out in this tale.” –Woman’s World

"A well-paced probe into a messy death highlights the rewards of joining ingenuity with persistence." - Kirkus Reviews

“The characters are wonderful, with Juni’s voice and sense of humor especially fresh, and the storyline is completely absorbing. A real treat for cozy fans.” –First Clue

From the Publisher

2024-01-13
Three sisters try to keep their record store/coffee shop afloat before and after murder intervenes.

Juniper Jessup left a lucrative job in Oregon to help her sisters, Tansy and Maggie, run their late parents’ shop in Cedar River, Texas. Propelled by the rush of interest in vinyl among young music lovers and a taste for fresh java shared by Texans of all ages, Sip & Spin Records has started to break even. Before the Jessup sisters can even begin to squabble over the store’s still-unrealized profits, venture capitalists Zackary Fjord and Savannah Goodwin swoop down with a proposal to become silent partners. Zack leans toward high-priced inducements, like box seats to a professional hockey game. Savannah is low-key, wooing the sisters with visions of the ways Fjord Capital’s infusion of cash could help their business grow. Zack’s high-pressure campaign grinds to a halt when he’s killed by a brick that comes through his car window during a torrential rainstorm. Police detective Beau Russell, Juni’s wannabe boyfriend, isn’t convinced that Zack’s death is murder, but Savannah is, and she begs Juni to help find her partner’s killer. In a novel twist on the universally-hated-victim formula, Savannah introduces Juni to shop owners whose businesses are thriving because of Fjord’s help in addition to others who genuinely hated Zack’s guts. The more she investigates, the more Juni realizes that like business and life, murder is complicated. The investigation takes patience and finesse, but ultimately, amateur detection triumphs.

A well-paced probe into a messy death highlights the rewards of joining ingenuity with persistence.

Kirkus Reviews