Into the Fire

*Available August 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group. Dying to Read was sent to me free in exchange for an honest review.*

Lorena McCourtney has written "dozens" of novels, many of them mysteries. With her new cozy mystery, Dying to Read published by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, Lorena has created a story filled with pages of quirky characters accompanied by their questionable deeds and a red-headed heroine whose doppelganger speaks half-truths and fairytale accounts as her first language. A perfect beach read, Dying to Read will provide readers with a few laughs and some vigorous eye-rolling at Cate Kincaid's first efforts at assisting her Uncle Joe in his PI business since she can't seem to land anything substantial to put on a résumé.

Cate Kincaid is on a routine assignment from her Uncle Joe to locate "Willow" to inform her of an inheritance. Heading to Willow's last known whereabouts outside a huge gothic residence, Cate meets a group of ladies who belong to their self-named "Whodunnit Club". Readers of mystery novels, they're gathered outside a fellow member's (Amelia Robinson) house wondering why she hasn't yet opened the door for them. As it turns out, each of them has a key to the house, unbeknownst to the others in their group, but it isn't until Cate grabs one of the keys from a lady and opens the door that they all proceed to go inside. It's evident the young woman (Willow) who works for the owner is gone – in a hurry it looks like – and Cate's curiosity along with another lady's (Doris) compel them through the house and upstairs to search for Amelia while the other women discover lunch ready for them in the refrigerator after all having contributed snarky comments about Amelia to Cate.

Seeing the lavish furnishings of Amelia's bedroom including an identical bed for Octavia, her pure white, blue-eyed, deaf cat, they wander to the entrance of a balcony with a rickety outside staircase and discover Amelia at the bottom of it obviously dead from the fall. Amelia is said to never use this stairway because of its ill-repair.

The assignment was to find Willow, and after a bit of history as to Willow's tree-hugging tendencies, Cate knows right where to look. However, little pinpricks of information along with meeting Amelia's only relatives (who are only too glad to push Octavia off on Cate), and remembering the ugly comments about Amelia by the ladies of the Whodunnit Club, Cate can't help but wonder if the woman was pushed down those stairs or if she fell which is what the corroner's report suggests.

With four great looking men, only one of which is a good guy, and Cate's ex-fiancé trying to re-enter her life, Cate pursues avenues of Amelia's possible murder – against her uncle's instructions and in defiance of the one good guy who's afraid she'll get hurt. With some hilarious episodes and some hair-raising adventures, Cate's pursuit of truth will provide those readers of light-hearted mysteries an enjoyable read. Faith elements are strung throughout the story and clearly provide the needed assistance at dire moments.

Lorena knows the audience she wants to reach with this story and gives them a romp through eyebrow-raising Whodunnit ladies with motives for murder, a young woman who could be her heroine's twin and never fails to get Cate in and out of trouble, and sweet-talkin' villains with looks to kill.

I really can't fault the story or how Lorena told it. She sticks to the cozy mystery format and does it well. But I can fault Revell for giving it a less than satisfactory title with an unattractive cover.

Father, you've clearly blessed Lorena with the ability to tell all kinds of stories. I pray your inspiration will continue in her life and that she will be offering many more stories for her readers to enjoy. Watch over her, Lord. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.