Lily Cranston is the manager of the Calico Rock Mine and Ghost Town in the fourth book of the Ghost Town Mystery series. I had not previously visited Grady, California, but I don’t think that matters, as everyone is welcoming and the story is good fun. Until, that is, someone is CORNERED AT THE CORRAL and the festival day goes downhill.
The annual Homesteader’s Day Celebration draws a lot of guests and the tourist attraction old town, which stages reenactments and provides historical information, is busy. Lily is just one of the locals in period costume, leading tours, being helpful on social media and booking visits. The picnic meal is upset by a fistfight between two distant cousins, something related to a family feud and definitely not in the script. Later that evening, one of the pair, Jeremy Byrde, is found dead in the river. The obvious suspect is the young man who was fighting him, Chase Fletcher. But Chase claims to have an alibi for that time.
Irene Fletcher requests Lily to investigate the matter, not wanting to think her grandson Chase could be to blame. The rest of the Ghost Town activities continue, with even a ghost-hunting group showing up to vlog about the possibly haunted buildings. Lily does think this is overdoing it, but she knows the town needs tourism, and the ghost hunters themselves are nice people. Lily’s boyfriend is Deputy Cody West and her sisters play a large part, Pat being married to the sheriff, and Ava donning a costume to portray a teacher in the wooden schoolhouse.
Anyone interested in old-time Western living may get a kick out of this cosy mystery. The tourist aspect is modern, and we even get a side visit to the Oasis Lounge, not Lily’s usual haunt, as she questions suspects. Otherwise, the only problem I can see is that readers might tire of the setting after a few books, so the author Jamie L. Adams doubtless is thinking up ways to keep her stories fresh. I had a good time with CORNERED AT THE CORRAL, but I’d have liked to see more reenacting horses, mules and donkeys – pulling wagons, carts, burdened with pickaxes and sacks of ore. Mule power enabled the mining way of life, and I’m sure the descendants of the town founders won’t have forgotten.
From author Jamie L. Adams comes a cozy mystery with a western twist!
Lily Cranston is basking in the fruits of her labor and enjoying the idyllic life of Grady, California. As the hard-working manager of the Calico Rock Mine and Ghost Town attraction, she's found success, and she's even rekindled a romance with her high school crush. However, when a scuffle disrupts the tranquility of the annual town festival, little does she realize that another tragedy looms.
A body is found in the river, and Lily is unexpectedly drawn into a web of secrets. An invitation to tea from the town historian and family friend, Irene Fletcher, presents a secret mission: protect the matriarch's grandson from being blamed for a crime he did not commit. Lily must navigate the conflicts of a century-old family feud, but when she stumbles on a secret meant to stay buried, the real killer has no choice but to try to silence her for good.
© 2003-2025 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy