In the third cosy in the Mall Cop Mystery series, EJ
Ferris is recovering from
the disappointment of not landing the security director job
at Fernglen
Galleria. Instead, that job went to the niece of the board
chair of the group
who owns the mall. It would be palatable to have lost the
job to someone
qualified, but Coco has just graduated with a fashion design
degree, and her
first priority is redesigning the uniforms. Unfortunately,
this is all happening
just as EJ's father, action star Ethan Jarrett, has arranged
to have his latest
film shot on location at Fernglenn, which calls for extra
security that Coco
can't (and doesn't seem to want to) comprehend.
Things take a sinister turn, though, when prop master Zoe is
found dead in a
public men's restroom during in early morning shoot. As
always, local police
detective Anders Helland warns EJ not to interfere with his
investigation. But
as the murder took place on mall property and involves
people that were close
to her father, EJ can't help but feel involved and want to
solve the murder
herself. Moreover, though, she misses investigative work,
and it's
increasingly clear that Coco doesn't know the first thing
about how to secure
a mall, let alone run an investigation. But can EJ solve
this murder before she
becomes a victim herself?
Each book in this series gets increasingly better. The
characters that populate
the mall are fun and lively, and I wish I could shop at
Fernglen. I enjoyed the
romance that began to bloom in this book, as well as the
potential for the
love triangle that was teased. I also liked that a
character who had been
previously shrouded in mystery revealed more about himself.
The mystery
itself was nicely written and kept me guessing; the scene in
which the culprit
was revealed was taut with tension, and I loved how
everything played out.
The one criticism that I have with this series, though, is
that EJ is constantly
looking for employment elsewhere (usually in police
departments, and at the
end of this book, she is offered an interesting job
opportunity). However, as
the series is called Mall Cop Mysteries, it seems
pretty telling that she will
either never receive the job she wants or take other offers.
While it's
understandable that EJ is a mall cop due to a military
injury and would like a
job comparable to her old job, this device is getting
tedious in an otherwise
stellar series.
Get ready for a second take.
With a famous action star for a father, mall cop EJ Ferris
is used to the Hollywood hullabaloo. But when her mall
becomes his movie set, the cameramen aren’t the only ones
who start shooting…
Protecting the shoppers at the Fernglen Galleria may not be
EJ’s dream job, but neither is working for her father’s film
production company. That’s why EJ is less than thrilled when
her dad arranges to shoot his upcoming film, Mafia Mistress,
in her mall. With the arrival of the movie entourage, EJ
suddenly has more than shoplifting teens to worry about.
Bombarded by overeager assistants and fan mail, EJ’s famous
father makes for an easy target—especially after a scare
involving a gun loaded with blanks. Zoe, the prop master,
blames herself for the mistake. But when a real bullet is
fired and Zoe is killed, Fernglen Galleria is shaken by more
than just Hollywood drama. Cut the cameras—there’s a real
gunman on the loose…
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