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.
Killing Time
by Suzanne Trauth
Series: Dodie O'Dell Mystery #6
Series Rating:
Published by Lyrical Press on June 2, 2020
Genres: Cozy Culinary Holiday Mystery
Pages: 286
Format: Kindle
Source: Great Escapes Book Tours
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Also in this series: No More Time
BAD BLOOD
With Halloween just around the corner, Dodie O’Dell is making preparations to transform the Windjammer Restaurant on the Jersey Shore into a haunted house, while the Etonville Little Theatre is staging Dracula. But casting the titular Transylvanian is proving challenging. The amateur actors in the company are not shy about chewing the scenery, but who among them can convincingly sink their fangs into a victim's neck? When a mysterious newcomer with a transfixing Eastern European accent lands the part, rumors that he might be an actual vampire start to take flight—not unlike the bat who's recently been spotted in the town park.
But everyone’s blood really runs cold when a stranger is found in the cemetery with a real stake in his heart. Dodie decides to put her Halloween theme menu on the back burner and stick her neck out to bring the killer into the light of day. She'd better keep her wits about her, though—or Dodie may be the next one to go down for the Count . . .
Killing Time by Suzanne Trauth is an exciting tale with lots of twists and turns, with secret identities and double agents.
Will Dodie figure out who “Dracula” is before he takes her life?
Dodie
Dodie and Bill are engaged now, and Dodie is questioning herself. Will she have to give up investigating? Will she have to give up managing the Windjammer? What will she do? These are some of the personal questions that she is asking herself. Then the townsfolk come up with these crazy rumors about her and Bill. Through all of it, the only thing that she knows is that she loves Bill.
I love that Dodie has doubts and is realistic. Yet, she is brilliant and has this “Spidey sense” where the hair on the back of her neck stands on end. She has learned to trust her instincts. Dodie isn’t afraid to help friends and likes being part of the community. This little town suits her well.
The Mystery
It’s Halloween in Etonville, New Jersey, and they are going all out this year. Dodie is on numerous committees to help with the festivities. She is also supporting her friends at the Etonville Little Theatre group. They have decided to do Dracula and found a new actor to play the part. In fact, he plays it so well that most of the town believes that he and his wife are vampires. Then a man dressed as the grim reaper is found dead in the cemetery with a stake in his chest.
Dodie starts investigating the actor, not the dead man. While Bill is focused on the dead man, will their cases connect? Let me just say that there are a lot of red herrings and double motives.
The end of the story is at Thanksgiving, and there is a surprise for Dodie. So, watch out for that.
Five Stars
I thoroughly enjoyed Killing Time by Suzanne Trauth, and therefore am giving it five stars. The characters, Eatonville, and the complexity of the mystery are fabulously written. I highly recommend this book to all mystery readers out there.
Excerpt
“It sure looks haunted,” Edna murmured to no one in particular, to the cast of Dracula in general. They were grouped around her on the sidewalk that ran past the old Hanratty place that Carlos and Bella had rented. I’d never been inside though once I’d driven by it when I first moved to Etonville on my way out of town. The house stood on half an acre of scruffy lawn with patches of dried dirt, surrounded by a few straggly trees—minus leaves at this time of the year—and no neighbors. The nearest houses were on a side street some distance away. The three-story building looked as if it might collapse at any moment, its outer walls covered with weathered, gray shakes, the steps to the front door supported by concrete building blocks. There was no handrail. Light leaked out of windows on the first floor. Curtains covering small, circular panes on the third story—an attic room?—quivered. Was someone up there watching us? I shivered. A turret rose upward from the right side of the structure, giving the house a smidge of outdated dignity. A drain pipe dangled loosely from the gutter.
“Let’s go.” Penny corralled actors and nudged everyone forward to the front door. There were six company members, Renfield saying he’d be along later, plus Penny, Lola, Pauli, and me. Strength in numbers.
We crept across the porch cautiously, aware of the creaking beneath us as the flooring shifted with each individual’s footsteps. Penny put out a hand to knock on the door. Before she could hit knuckles to wood, it flew open. “Welcome everyone!” Bella stood in the doorway, a silhouette backlit by muted foyer lighting.
Behind her Carlos stood silently, observing the group huddled in his entryway, like deer caught in headlights.
Lola took the lead, moving graciously into the house. “Thank you. So nice of you to invite us to your home.”
I’m not sure what the members of the Etonville Little Theatre were expecting. Given the exterior and location of the Hanratty homestead, I anticipated something out of a late-night classic horror film.
Other Books in the Series
Giveaway
Prize: (3) Print Copy Killing Time (A Dodie O’Dell Mystery) by Suzanne Trauth (U.S. Only)
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Until the next time,
Reading this book contributed to this challenge:
2020 Supernatural Creatures Reading Challenge
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About Suzanne Trauth
Suzanne Trauth is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and a former theatre professor at a university. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Dramatists Guild, and League of Professional Theatre Women. When she is not writing, Suzanne coaches actors and serves as a celebrant performing wedding ceremonies. She lives in Woodland Park, New Jersey.
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