Molly Owens from California journalism has upped stakes with
her degree and experience and moved to slower paced Britton
Bay on the Oregon Coast. Here she's hoping to revitalise a
family-run local paper and improve its web circulation
figures. The Britton Bay Bulletin has a small staff,
including young interns, old crusts and the polite but
occupied boss. What the paper needs is DEADLY NEWS to grab
headlines, but that can't be manufactured.
Clara Phillips Black, the mayor's wife, gives Molly a
warmer welcome than some of her jaded co-workers. The staff
don't like new energy, making them work harder on the same
old same old. The townsfolk, on the other hand, are
delighted to have a new face in the diner. Except for
whoever it was who let the air out of Molly's tyres.
Naughty, naughty. Some city folks would be deterred, but
Molly is made of sterner stuff. She was an army brat and has
moved to many towns and dealt with many strange situations.
This twist on the small newspaper is absolutely topical. So
many papers are closing, as advertising dwindles and people
turn to the web for news. How to stay relevant and important
to their readership? Jody Holford has hit a nerve. Even as
Molly enjoys the real home cooking and salt spray air, we
notice the lack of people sitting reading newsprint.
Molly may not have got on well with craggy, cross Vernon
East, the staff reporter, but she wasn't expecting to find
him dead at his home. The shock knocks her silly, and while
she tries to aid the police, maybe this shock accounts for
Molly's not mentioning a box of interview photos Vernon
had, to the police, but attempting a break-in that evening
to find them. I can't account for this extremely odd
behavior any other way. If the photos were evidence of any
sort she'd be tampering with evidence and removing a vital
lead; if they were not related, the police would release
them quickly. A good character is Sam Alderich who used his
business degree to open a garage and seems keen to impress a
pretty young woman who isn't a relative, unlike most ladies
in town. I also like Hannah, the intern, who runs the school
newspaper and is thrilled to have real assignments. And
Tigger, a friendly pup in need of a home. But as problems
mount for Molly, the close gaze of townsfolk becomes
claustrophobic. Author Jody Holford has broken ground for
her Britton
Bay Mystery series, and I'm hoping DEADLY NEWS will
be the first of many books.
Former Army brat Molly Owens is ready to put down roots, and the picturesque seaside town of Britton Bay on the Oregon Coast seems like the perfect place for it. Especially when she lands a job as editor of the local paper. But she's got one colleague who's very bad news . . .
As an experienced journalist, Molly is eager to bring the struggling Britton Bay Bulletin up to speed. But when she pushes Vernon, one of her less welcoming reporters, to dig a little deeper into the story of a prominent local family, the man ends up dead. The fact that he wasn't well-liked makes finding the killer extra complicated. The lists of suspects range from his ex-wife to his own son to Molly's boss, who has a secret of his own. But when Molly's attempts to sleuth out the truth result in her receiving frightening threats, the trouble is just beginning . . .
The one bright spot is Molly's newfound flirtation with Sam Alderich. The sexy mechanic is used to taking things apart and piecing them back together, and between the two of them they just might be able to solve this deadly puzzle—if Molly can survive peaceful small-town life long enough . . .
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