Third book in series!
All Murders Final! by Sherry Harris is the third book in A Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series. It is a cold February in Ellington, Massachusetts. Since it is next to impossible to hold garage sales during the winter, Sarah Winston (she is a garage sale organizer) has started a virtual garage sale website. People can list their items for sale (people who live in the area). Sarah monitors the site as well as listing items (and buying items). She thought this would be a great idea and help supplement her income. It is turning out not to be as easy as she thought. Just last night Sarah had problems with a listing when the seller agreed to sell her a tablecloth. Then someone offered the seller a higher amount of money and the seller (Margaret More) backed out of their agreement with Sarah (very unethical). The next day Sarah heads over to Margaret More's house to pick up some items that Margaret is donating to the February Blues garage sale at the Air Force base, and Sarah finds Margaret dead in her car. The tablecloth in question (from the virtual listing) is shoved in her mouth. Sarah immediately calls the police. While Sarah is waiting for the police to show up, someone sends her a photo on PopIt (a photo site like Snapchat). The photo shows Sarah standing by Margaret's car waiting for the police (it then disappears). Who is watching her and why? Sarah sets out to find the killer (she just cannot help herself). But Sarah keeps getting threats. Sarah seeks help from her ex-husband, Police Chief CJ Hooker (who has been cold and distant lately towards Sarah). Will Sarah be able to solve the crimes without becoming the next victim?
All Murders Final! was a little disappointing to me. There seemed to be more focus on the love triangle between Sarah, CJ, and Seth Anderson than on the mysteries (I am tired of love triangles). The book was easy to read, had a good pace (flow), and was just the right length for a cozy mystery. I liked the mysteries (murder and stalker) though there is a definite lack of clues (you can figure out the killer and stalker without them) until just before the reveal. The author did a good job at trying to misdirect the reader. This is the third book in the series, but it can be read as a stand-alone novel. I give All Murders Final! 3.5 out of 5 stars. I just wanted a more difficult mystery and a lot less romance. One thing that was annoying were the many references to fluffernutter sandwiches (which is peanut butter and marshmallow fluff on bread-sounds disgusting) throughout the novel (they are actually trying to make it the Massachusetts state sandwich). Will I read the next book in the series? Yes. I will give it another go and see if there is improvement. One thing I learned from All Murders Final! is that virtual garage sale sites are dangerous. The author did provide some helpful safety tips at the end of the novel regarding these sites (the danger is in the delivery or pick up of items).
I received a complimentary copy of All Murders Final! from NetGalley (and the publisher) in exchange for an honest review of the novel.
