The annual Cowboy Ranch Auction in Hazel Rock, Texas is
approaching and Charli Rae Warren, who owns a Book Barn
shop, encourages friends to make old damaged books into
items like clocks, called repurposing. All the items will be
up for auction to assist cowboys injured at rodeo riding.
However, anywhere there's a good name to be enhanced,
politicians gather; and rivalries over the cowboys also occur.
A REFERENCE TO MURDER is a small-town cosy mystery featuring
Charli Rae Warren who was introduced in the first of the Book
Barn Mystery series, FATAL
FICTION. She has traded a life of teaching for one of
running the bookstore her parents established. The store
mascot is a friendly pink armadillo.
I would expect most cowboys to behave like gentlemen, but
one in particular seems to have drunk too much because he
gets very disrespectful of a pretty woman, and behaves in a
way that's dangerous to others. His name is Dalton Hibbs and
this reminds local gossips that Dalton's brother, a pro
rider, vanished seven years ago. The last person known to
have seen Wyatt was Scarlet, now owner of a hair salon and
still a girl about town. The next morning, Dalton doesn't
appear for a media event and some think history is repeating
itself. Charli is attacked just outside her home by a man
dressed as a cowboy, for no reason she knows. Someone has
sure stirred up trouble!
The story is right up to the minute, with loutish behaviour
occurring in view of phone cameras, and a character using an
iPad to track the owner's phone location. Also, modern rodeo
riding championships come with much bigger prize funds,
making it potentially worth eliminating good competitors. Or
is someone killing personal rivals for romance?
While the early part of the story takes time to establish
the background, from the time the rodeo gets under way I was
hooked. All the different personalities clash and everyone,
even a huge rodeo bull called Twisted Mister, has a rough
ride. As the Texas entertainment spectacle continues the
problems just deepen. Former police detective Kym Roberts
has written an electrifying tale in A REFERENCE TO MURDER.
Charli Rae Warren is back home in Hazel Rock, Texas,
spending her time reading, collecting, and selling books—at
least, the ones that don’t get eaten first by her father’s
pet armadillo. Running the family bookstore is a demanding
job, but solving murders on the side can be flat out
dangerous . . .
The Book Barn is more than just a shop, it’s a part of the
community—and Charli is keeping busy with a fundraising
auction and the big rodeo event that’s come to town. That
includes dealing with the Texas-sized egos of some celebrity
cowboys, including Dalton Hibbs, a blond, blue-eyed bull
rider who gets overly rowdy one night with the local
hairdresser . . . and soon afterward, disappears into thin air.
Dalton’s brother also vanished seven years ago—and Charli is
thrown about whether Dalton is a villain or a victim. After
a close call with an assailant wielding a branding iron
(that plays havoc with her hair), and some strange vandalism
on her property, she’s going to have to team up with the
sheriff to untangle this mystery, before she gets gored . . .
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