Ebook224 pages2 hours
Small Town Trouble
By Jean Erhardt
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this ebook
Meet Kim Claypoole, restaurateur, reluctant heroine and amateur sleuth with moxie galore. "I'd had a feeling all along that this wasn't going to be my day. But I hadn't been prepared for things to go this badly..."
In Small Town Trouble, the first in a series from mystery writer Jean Erhardt, we get acquainted with Kim Claypoole's irreverent and witty ways of dealing with the peculiar characters and events that she finds in her life.
Claypoole's adventure begins as she leaves her home in the Smoky Mountains to help save her kooky mother Evelyn from financial disaster. Setting off to assist Evelyn (i.e., "the other Scarlett O'Hara") with her newest personal crisis, Claypoole leaves in her wake her Gatlinburg doublewide, her restaurant, The Little Pigeon and her restaurant partner and sometimes best friend Mad Ted Weber as well as a budding secret love affair that's hotter than an Eskimo in July.
Claypoole's savior complex leads to more trouble when she bumps into an old flame in her hometown who asks for her help clearing her hapless brother of murder charges. In true Claypoole fashion, she gets more than she bargained for when she gets dragged into a complicated quest to find the true killer complete with topless tavern dancers, small town cops, a stream of backwater characters-even a meeting with the Grim Reaper. Can Claypoole muddle her way through the murky depths of this bizarre murder mystery before it's too late?
With biting humor and wit, Small Town Trouble will leave you guessing what's around the next corner in the quirky life of Kim Claypoole.
In Small Town Trouble, the first in a series from mystery writer Jean Erhardt, we get acquainted with Kim Claypoole's irreverent and witty ways of dealing with the peculiar characters and events that she finds in her life.
Claypoole's adventure begins as she leaves her home in the Smoky Mountains to help save her kooky mother Evelyn from financial disaster. Setting off to assist Evelyn (i.e., "the other Scarlett O'Hara") with her newest personal crisis, Claypoole leaves in her wake her Gatlinburg doublewide, her restaurant, The Little Pigeon and her restaurant partner and sometimes best friend Mad Ted Weber as well as a budding secret love affair that's hotter than an Eskimo in July.
Claypoole's savior complex leads to more trouble when she bumps into an old flame in her hometown who asks for her help clearing her hapless brother of murder charges. In true Claypoole fashion, she gets more than she bargained for when she gets dragged into a complicated quest to find the true killer complete with topless tavern dancers, small town cops, a stream of backwater characters-even a meeting with the Grim Reaper. Can Claypoole muddle her way through the murky depths of this bizarre murder mystery before it's too late?
With biting humor and wit, Small Town Trouble will leave you guessing what's around the next corner in the quirky life of Kim Claypoole.
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Reviews for Small Town Trouble
Rating: 3.3000000799999993 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
10 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.
Small town trouble is a murder mystery with a side of romance. The story revolves around Kim who when her mom gets in a financial bind and needs some guidance, she heads home to the small town she grew up in. Kim ends up in the middle of a murder mystery with her 7th grade crush Amy as her sidekick. Together they stir up enough trouble to get all the wrong attention. Which is where all the fun truly is in this story.
The book has all the right characters and all the oddities that you would find in a small town story. Including Kim’s very dramatic and needy mom, her bossy business partner Ted, and a few not so classy ladies from the strip joint in town.
The only part that I struggled with in this story is the introduction chapters….they were cluttered and confusing and I was really worried about how I would read the whole book. There was so much information given and in a strange, almost forced way. I was a bit worried at this point, but I read on. After the intro chapters the book seemed to really pick up its flow and I was able to move past the confusion and really enjoy the story.
This book is a fun read, the author has developed the main character’s well enough that you can relate to them well. The plot was fun and I really could not guess who committed the murders up until the culprit was revealed. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Protagonist Kim Claypoole has returned to her small-town home to help sort out her mother’s errant finances. But murder’s in the air, Kim’s big-town girl-friend/lover isn’t returning her calls, and that high-school friend she once practiced kissing with is looking particularly attractive right now. With so many plotlines, it’s not surprising the protagonist has to stop and smoke a favorite cigar, ponder her multiple options, and drink good wine and bad beer on numerous carefully described occasions.The narration has a nicely noir-ish feel, dialog is believable and humorous, and twists and turns abound. Readers might feel the rug yanked from beneath them just as the protagonist does, and not “the fluffy kitchen rug where Nancy and I had mamboed... in my dream.” The cops, of course, will arrest the wrong guy, and “I hate it when that happens,” says the Chief, after a suitably gruesome showdown. But there are plenty of other characters filling out the scenes, ready and waiting perhaps for more in this series. Meanwhile, this first novel is a tale of many people, many red herrings, many cigars and beers, and much comedic timing, plus dark mystery and romance.Disclosure: I won a copy and I offer my honest review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I have to go with a max of three for this book. The story was pretty good and it was definitely a fun read but there were just so many editing errors that I can't go any higher. It's also really dated. The book was published in 2013 but it reads like something that was written in the early 90s and not updated to bring it up to date.
There are lots of jokes and pop-culture references that are likely won't be understood or appreciated by anyone not at least in their 40s. Luckily for me, that's where I fit so I got a kick out of them.
Book preview
Small Town Trouble - Jean Erhardt
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