I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from Great Escapes Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Death by Association
by Paula Darnell
Series: DIY Diva Mystery #1
Series Rating:
Published by Cozy Cat Press on January 1, 2019
Genres: Cozy Crafts and Hobbies Mystery
Pages: 215
Format: Kindle
Source: Great Escapes Book Tours
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon
DIY Diva Laurel McMillan learns that the high walls and guarded gates of Hawkeye Haven can't protect her community. When Laurel takes her pampered, chocolate Labrador retriever, Bear, for an early morning walk, she finds her friend, security guard Bessie, bleeding and unconscious at her guardhouse post. If the attack on Bessie isn't enough to set the residents' nerves on edge, the murder of Victor Eberhart, the unpopular president of the powerful homeowners' association, certainly does the trick. Despite teaching DIY classes and writing project instructions for her latest book, DIY for Dog Lovers, Laurel manages to squeeze in time for some DIY detective work. But as she gets closer to the truth, Victor's killer would like nothing better than for the DIY Diva to take a dive.
Can Laurel find the killer and bring peace back to her neighborhood?
Death by Association Paula Darnell is a different cozy, and it’s excellent. This story takes place in Center City, Iowa in a subdivision formed around a golf course which their own HOA. The main character, Laurel McMillian, is a thirty-eight-year-old widower who moved here with her cousin Tracey away from Seattle. Her love interest is, Lieutenant Wesson is a forty-four-year-old divorcee with one kid in medical school that is there investigating the murderer of the HOA president.
Sleuth
Our sleuth is a still young woman who is doing quite well for herself after losing her husband. Laurel has made a great living off of doing DIY projects online and then writing books about them as well. She is currently living in the HOA subdivision and is teaching classes with her DIY projects while thinking of her next book that she wants to write for her DIY Diva Brand.
What I like about her is that she didn’t set out initially to look into this death; it just happened as the story progressed. Another thing that I liked about her is that she is very close to her family and wants to do them proud. The last thing that I like about her is that yes she is crafty, but she can’t cook or bake. She also can’t tell when a man is interested in her. That right there kind of reminds me of me.
Love Interest
Our love interest is our cop of course. He is Lieutenant Wesson, who likes to go by Wes, is a pretty interesting character, and he is partnered with another detective by the name of Smith. Except she is grouchy and not very pleasant while Wes is nice. Wes is a great guy, and he is bringing Laurel out of her dating funk. He also likes dogs especially Laurel’s dog named, Bear.
Five Stars
Death by Association by Paula Darnell is a great book. These characters are all great, and I can’t wait to read more about them in the next book. Laurel though is going to be testing Wes’s patience a lot I have a feeling. I am giving this book a five-star rating and recommending it to all cozy mystery lovers. There are also the DIY projects she mentions throughout the book at the end along with some recipes.
Tour Schedule
March 11 – Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT
March 12 – CelticLady’s Reviews – RECIPE POST
March 13 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
March 13 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
March 14 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – GUEST POST
March 15 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
March 16 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
March 17 – Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews – REVIEW
March 18 – Books Direct – GUEST POST
March 19 – Sneaky the Library Cat’s Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
March 20 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW
March 21 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW
March 22 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
March 23 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
March 24 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
March 24 – Laura’s Interests – GUEST POST
March 24 – I’m Into Books – SPOTLIGHT
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Prize: (1) Paperback Copy – Death by Association: A DIY Diva Mystery by Paula Darnell – (U.S. Only)
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Until the next time,
Happy Reading!
About Paula Darnell
An instructor at five colleges over the years, Paula Darnell most often taught the dreaded first-year English composition classes, but she’s also been happy to teach some fun classes, such as fashion design, sewing, and jewelry making. Paula has a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, and a Master’s degree in English from the University of Nevada, Reno.
Like Laurel, the main character in Death by Association, Paula enjoys all kinds of arts and crafts. Some of her memorable projects include making a hat and a cape to wear to Royal Ascot, sewing wedding gowns for both her daughters, exhibiting her textile and mixed-media artwork in juried art shows, and having one of her jewelry projects accepted for inclusion in Leather Jewelry, published by Lark Books. She sells some of her jewelry and hair accessories in her Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/PaulaDJewelry.
Paula’s interest in DIY craft projects and fashion led to her writing hundreds of articles for print and online national publications.
Living in a guard-gated community governed by a homeowners’ association gave Paula the idea for the setting of Death by Association. She finds that residing in an HOA community can be both a blessing and a curse. A Happy-New-Year greeting from her community association called on residents to “start the new year by reviewing your Rules and Regulations booklet,” something unlikely to top anyone’s list of New Year’s resolutions.
Paula lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, with her husband Gary and their 110-pound dog Rocky, whose favorite pastime is lurking in the kitchen, hoping for a handout
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2019 Cloak and Dagger
- 2019 Craving For Cozies Reading Challenge
- 2019 Cruisin' Thru The Cozies Reading Challenge
- 2019 Goodreads Reading Challenge
- 2019 New Release Challenge
Thank you for your review on “Death by Association” by Paula Darnell and for being part of the book tour.
Sounds like a fabulous book and one I would greatly enjoy having the opportunity to read.
Thanks to Karen of Baroness’ Book Trove for being a stop on the Death by Association tour and for the great review! I really appreciate it! I hope everybody enjoys the book.