Running a stained-glass shop isn't all it's cracked up to
be. Sorry, it's so hard to resist puns when you're
enjoying a cozy mystery series. Latest in Cheryl Hollon's
Webb's Glass Shop series is the sparkling third
installment CRACKED TO DEATH. Savannah Webb inherited a
glass making business and shop in Florida.
Savannah is six feet tall and wears practical clothes to
deal with heat and glass. Her new office manager Amanda
Blake dresses more extravagantly and has an eye for
color combinations. As the shop is small, Savannah has
bought an old warehouse to work and give classes, with
the help of Jacob who loves the job and copes well with
his Asperger's condition. Today, a new student has brought
in some cobalt blue bottles he found while diving. Some
detective work and experts are required to confirm that
the bottles are hundreds of years old, possibly from a
pirated ship. Where there's treasure, there are modern
day pirates too, however. A body of a diver is found on
the beach, and the police bring fragments of glass from
his dive bag to Savannah to identify.
I love the craft work demonstrated throughout this tale.
I also enjoy the different personalities and how they
change - Amanda becomes disorganized and stressed as she
nurses her ill mother, but still tries to do her best for
the shop. Local people we met in earlier books reappear,
from twin senior ladies in the class to an English store
owner across the road. Nobody we meet is a one-
dimensional person. Location detail is also excellent,
with crushed-shell roads, weathered driftwood, and a
diver's home base described for us. Savannah keeps trying
to prioritize repairs and purchases, wondering if a new
computer is more important than a stout new door. We've
all been there.
I got thoroughly involved in this mystery which uses each
main character to contribute a clue or check out a line
of inquiry. There's even the latest in undersea
exploration tech. I can safely say that Cheryl Hollon is
writing very intelligent cozy mysteries which any reader
can relate to and enjoy. CRACKED TO DEATH is a perfect
combination of the craft-based cozy and the exotic
location thriller. If you go down to the beach today,
don't step on any broken glass. Do bring a copy of
CRACKED TO DEATH, and you may see the ocean in a whole
new light.
When a treasure hunt leads to deadly plunder, it's up to
glass shop owner Savannah Webb and her trusty investigative
posse to map out the true motives of a killer . . .
It's the dog days of summer in St. Petersburg, Florida, and
Webb's Glass Shop proprietor Savannah Webb has an
eco-friendly plan to help locals escape the heat--a
recyclable bottle-crafting workshop taught by reticent store
manager Amanda Blake. Turns out, the class is a bigger smash
than expected, thanks in part to a pair of staggeringly old
bottles brought in by snorkeler Martin Lane . . .
Linked to a storied pirate shipwreck, the relics definitely
pique Savannah's interest. But intrigue turns to shock when
Martin's lifeless body washes ashore the next morning,
another glass artifact tucked in his dive bag. With cell
phone records connecting Amanda to the drowning, Savannah
must voyage through unchartered territory to exonerate her
colleague and capture the twisted criminal behind Martin's
death . . .
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