A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams

A Killer Plot (A Books by the Bay Mystery) by Ellery Adams

In the small coastal town of Oyster Bay, North Carolina, you'll find plenty of characters, ne'er-do-wells, and even a few celebs trying to duck the paparazzi. But when murder joins this curious community, the Bayside Book Writers are there to get the story...

Olivia Limoges is the subject of constant gossip. Ever since she came back to town-a return as mysterious as her departure-Olivia has kept to herself, her dog, and her unfinished novel. With a little cajoling from the eminently charming writer Camden Ford, she agrees to join the Bayside Book Writers, break her writer's block, and even make a few friends...

But when townspeople start turning up dead with haiku poems left by the bodies, anyone with a flair for language is suddenly suspect. And it's up to Olivia to catch the killer before she meets her own surprise ending. 

Welcome to Oyster Bay, North Carolina where the living is easy and murder is on the mind.

Olivia Limoges has returned to the hometown she left as a young girl. She is rich, stunning, suffering from a case of writers block and still a mystery to the locals, and often keeping only the company of her loyal poodle Captain Haviland. She also owns the local five star restaurant and has invested a lot in local properties, becoming landlord to many of the businesses around her. While having breakfast at the local diner she overhears some people talking “book stuff.” Dixie, her friend and waitress explains that they are a group called the Bayside Book Writers and encourages her to join.  She hesitates until she speaks with Camden Ford, the apparent leader of the group. She finds him witty, charming and impossible to refuse.  Olivia decides that she is going to fix up the lighthouse cottage on her property for their meetings.

It looks like things are improving for Olivia, particularly in the friend department, until people start showing up dead. When one of her new friends winds up dead, with of all things a Haiku poem left next to the body, Olivia and her writer friends know they will do whatever they can to find out who is responsible for the murder.   But can they figure it out before more bodies start to fall?  Do the murders have to do with the gossip book one of their group members is writing about a well know family, the desire to push through a new housing development no matter what the cost, or something else no one could have possibly anticipated? 

A Killer Plot is a fantastic start to a new series. The characters are fun, fresh and a bit on the eccentric side. There is Dixie, the roller skating dwarf waitress, Harris the computer geek who suffers from a serious case of Rosacea, and Millay the bartender, who likes to show up with her hair a different color each time they meet. These are just a few of the fun people you will meet in this charming first book of the Books By The Bay Mystery series.  The characters are believable and the author gives the reader great insight into the world of a writer.  With new friendships, possible romance(s) and promises of great things to come, A Killer Plot is one book you don’t want to be caught dead missing. 

FTC Full Disclosure ~ The publisher sent me this book in the hopes I would review it.