Add Up
by Annabelle Hunter
Series: Barrow Bay Mysteries #2
Series Rating:
Published by Annabelle Hunter on December 28, 2021
Setting: California
Genres: Cozy Romantic Mystery
Pages: 328
Format: Kindle
Goodreads
Get Your Copy at: Amazon
Also in this series: Number's Up
Jennifer Ward, MBA, CPA, and former business consultant, likes a nice, orderly lifestyle. Schedules and To-Do lists are what get her through the day. At least they used to. Now her lists are completed by noon, and people keep suggesting words like ‘hobbies’ and ‘relaxing.’ What is a woman who loves spreadsheets and problem solving to do?
Evidently, it’s finding a body.
Suddenly Jen is up to her eyebrows in problems, spreadsheets and lists of suspects. But the deeper she gets into the investigation, the more the rest of her life starts to fray.
Can an ex-workaholic turn over a new leaf before her need for control destroys everything? Or will her need for answers put her on a collision course with a killer?
Add Up by Annabelle Hunter is fantastic! I love Barrow Bay and the townspeople.
Will Jen find Nadene’s killer, go insane, or all of the above?
Jennifer Ward, MBA, CPA
Our sleuth is Jen, best friend of Lark, the town’s CPA (sort of), girlfriend of Nicolas Kelly (the Ex-FBI Hottie at the resort), and member of the Sewing Circle. Although, I don’t believe that is how she would describe herself. Since Number’s Up, Jen has lost her way. She realizes her anxiety and trust issues are getting bigger, but she doesn’t know how to dial them back. She keeps trying different things, but she isn’t finding herself. Jen is bored. So, the logical next step is to figure out who killed Nadene. Right? Well, in Barrow Bay, that is the correct option, and the whole town is there to help her. Well, except Brecken and John, the two detectives on the case.
Here is an example of Jen’s worrying.
There was a long pause on the phone. “Um, you worry me, Jen.” I could understand that. “Join the club. Knowing Lark, if I go another week without fixing something, there will be shirts announcing my craziness to the world.” Seriously. I needed to… I didn’t even know anymore. I’d lost track of how many problems I had to fix. Maybe I should’ve listed them in my little black book, too.
Hunter, Annabelle. Add Up: Barrow Bay Mysteries (p. 198). Kindle Edition.
I love Jen. She is intelligent and stylish. She loves what she loves and doesn’t let even her best friend sway her from being her. Jen has embraced her relationship with Nic, but she still has issues that don’t allow her to trust him fully. Love, yes. Trust, no. Yet, Jen will figure it out because she is stronger than she thinks.
The Mystery
Jen tries dragging Nic to church so he can become friends with the men in town instead of hurting them in the competitive games that he is invested in. However, Nic finds a body on the way in and doesn’t actually make it to the service. The young woman is found in the grassy area next to the church behind some bushes. Jen’s curiosity gets the better of her when she realizes that she doesn’t know Nadene and that most of the people in her circles don’t either. That makes Jen sad, and she sets out to find the killer. Her secondary hope is that it will keep her mind busy, and she will not need to focus on herself.
The Townspeople
Barrow Bay has some new citizens, both of whom have been befriended by Jen.
One is Camille, who works at the bank. She seems lonely and hasn’t found her place in town yet. She is here to care for her Grandmother, but that seems like all she does. Occasionally, she goes for a drink with the people that she works with from the bank. No one knows much about her. Camille is a coworker of the murder victim. Nadene got Camille the job at the bank.
Another is Amelia Roche, “Dorthy’s friend’s daughter.” Amelia is in charge of Dorothy and Watt Enterprises charity foundation. She is going to save the world one charity at a time. Amelia fits into town nicely. She hasn’t met many people because she is a workaholic. Yet after hanging around Jen and Lark for a very short time, she understands the dynamics of the town. The three of them become friends, and you can see the new Sewing Circle is being formed. It would be great to see Amelia find her knight in shining armor at her charity jousting match.
Then there is Raelyn Schmidt. She is a know-it-all all. When I say that, I mean she knows everyone in Barrow Bay’s face, name, history, and relationships. It’s scary. Of course, she is friends with Lindsey. So, she might have found the information that way, but so far, we don’t know how she attained the personal information. Perhaps in Lark’s next story, we will learn what Raelyn is up to.
I can’t wait until Lark realizes that she will be replacing her Grandmother in the future, and Jen will be right there egging her on.
Five Stars
My rating for Add Up by Annabelle Hunter is five stars. If you need to escape reality, Barrow Bay is an excellent place to go. I recommend all of Annabelle Hunter’s books. Now, I am on to the next one.
Barrow Bay Mysteries
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Number’s Up by Annabelle Hunter.
Until the next time,
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- Jenz 2023 Beachcombers Mystery RC
- Jenz 2023 Cloak and Dagger
- Jenz 2023 Craving the Cozies
- Jenz 2023 Cruisin' thru the Cozies
- Jenz 2023 Finishing the Series
- Jenz 2023 Goodreads RC
- Jenz 2023 Medical Examiner RC
- Jenz 2023 Six Shooter
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