American Artist & Author Kris Courtney
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American Artist & Author Kris Courtney
![FLORIDA RETIREMENT IS MURDER by American Artist & Author Kris Courtney
New Florida Book about the lives of Senior Citizens on a journey of Sleuth Discoveries inside a Florida Gated Retirement Community in Lakeland Florida, Polk County.
Editorial Review - Booklife llc. by Publishers Weekly
In the wake of the murder of the HOA president, the denizens of Florida's Sun Gate Retirement Community come together to investigate her death and other local mysteries in this gently comic cozy.
Stewart Johnson, the newest resident, is secretive about his past, but shows some surprising skills. He gradually makes friends, especially with his neighbor Kathy, who warns him that "[t]hese social butterflies will eat you alive and not all of them can fly!" But then another resident is found dead and the sharp-eyed Stewart begins to notice subtle and not-so-subtle problems. Fortunately, although Stewart and Co. may be getting old, they still have their wits about them.
Courtney has a wonderful eye and ear for the retirement community life, the friendships and petty squabbles such as the sneaky way the residents get around the no-pets rule by classifying them as emotional support animals. There's a running joke about Leda, a resident, who is always making bundt cakes. Stewart keeps missing them, one of many amusing and touching details that help bring this tightly knit world to life. Sometimes, the various side plots seem to take precedence over the main murders threads, but the residents and their lives are so charming that it hardly makes a difference.
Although the book is well-stocked with interesting characters, it is really Stewart's story, and Courtney deftly manages his growth while maintaining an air of mystery. We learn that Stewart "had a lifetime of experience with hardnosed men unwilling to take criticism." In several scenes we see him with his grown daughter, and their exchanges come across as funny and real, as their close relationship adapts to Stewart's aging. Although he's a widower who clearly misses his wife, by the end of the book this self-contained man is open to new relationships and even a possible romance. The wrap-up brings him, and his friends, a comfortable and sweet conclusion?but not without an ending that's both darkly amusing and appropriate.
Takeaway: Retirees show they're not past their prime when they face murder and other shenanigans.
Great for fans of: Patricia Rockwell?s Essie Cobb Senior Sleuth Mysteries, Allen B. Boyer?s Bess Bullock Retirement Home Mystery Series.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: B+
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: B
ARC? Galley Reader Reviews
? ?I can?t say this about many books I read but I couldn?t put it down?
? ?Great Book!!! Loved the characters who all feel like family!! The ending was a shocker!!!?
? ?I could visualize it and the characters!!!! I want them as my friends!!! This is how I can connect with good reads when I feel it!! I swear this would make a great weekly show.?
? ?I loved the character development, I loved the humor of the people. I loved the suspense and I especially loved the ending! I can just imagine crazy old golf cart drivers! Oh, and WAKE UP, EARL!?"](index_files/image310.gif)
