![FLORIDA RETIREMENT IS MURDER - Award-Winning Florida Retirement Mystery Book for Snowbirds 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)
Florida Retirement Is Murder | Official Video Reels
Watch official promo videos for the award-winning Florida Snowbird Cozy Mystery Comedy by Kris Courtney. Featuring golf cart chaos, gated community life, beach lifestyle, and hilarious senior sleuths.
Award-Winning Audiobook Trailer | Florida Retirement Is Murder
Official video reels showcasing the Florida snowbird lifestyle, gated retirement community, golf cart adventures, and laugh-out-loud cozy mystery moments from the bestselling book by American artist and author Kris Courtney.
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ACT | God Bless America
Original Fine Art by American Artist Author Kris Courtney
ACT | God Bless America is an original oil painting by American Artist & Author Kris Courtney. The work is a powerful abstract expression of the American Flag intertwined with the Holy Bible, created as a bold declaration of faith, freedom, and national identity. Through layered color, form, and symbolic force, the painting captures the enduring power of the Flag and the foundational role of faith in the American story.
Displayed in the Office of the Speaker of the House
In 2011, this nationally recognized fine art piece was displayed in the office of the Republican Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, John Boehner of Ohio. That placement marked a significant moment of recognition for Kris Courtney and established ACT | God Bless America as a respected piece of patriotic American fine art within the brand of American Artist Author Kris Courtney.
A Signature Work That Endures
The painting continues to stand as a signature work of the artist career. It remains proudly featured on the Amazon Author Page for the international bestselling cozy comedy mystery Florida Retirement Is Murder and appears across remaining social media and independent platforms where it has not yet been fully erased. Despite ongoing algorithmic throttling, search suppression, and content removal by major technology platforms, the artwork endures as a visible symbol of the artist legacy.
Center of a Federal Free-Speech Case
This same artwork sits at the center of Federal Case No. 2:26-cv-14119 (Maynard) filed by Kris Courtney against Google, Amazon, and Meta. The case documents the censorship, removal, and digital erasure of the painting alongside the targeted U.S. Only suppression and book ban of Florida Retirement Is Murder that intensified in 2024. What was once a nationally recognized work of patriotic fine art has been systematically obscured during the years of heightened content control from 2020 through 2024, contributing to the broader silencing of independent American creative voices.<.span>
The frustration is real and documented: a painting that hung in the U.S. Speaker office and a book that achieved international success were both subjected to visibility destruction inside the United States while remaining available elsewhere. This selective suppression strikes at the heart of free expression and the right of an American artist and author to share work rooted in faith, patriotism, and national pride.
More Than a Painting
ACT | God Bless America is more than a painting. It is a statement of American identity, a record of artistic achievement, and a living example of the cost of digital censorship. It continues to represent the brand of American Artist Author Kris Courtney and the enduring belief that faith and freedom remain inseparable from the American story.
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Set in Central Florida, this Fictional Satire Cozy Comedy Florida Snowbird Murder Mystery is a humorous tale of Senior Sleuth Snowbirds who discover there is a killer among them inside a Gated Retirement Community filled with overgrown children & comedic adults with attitude! Praise for 'Florida Retirement Is Murder'Loading praise... |
