72) The Longest Yard Sale by Sherry Harris

The Blurb :

ONE MAN’S CLUTTER

When Sarah Winston turns Ellington, Massachusetts, into New England’s largest garage sale for a day, it’s the small town’s biggest event since the start of the Revolutionary War—but without the bloodshed. That is, until a valuable painting goes missing…and the lifeless body of an Air Force officer is found in Carol Carson’s painting studio, his face perfectly framed with the murder weapon—a metal picture frame.

IS ANOTHER MAN’S CLOVER

Sarah is mad as heck that someone used her town-wide garage sale to commit a crime—and frame her good friend Carol. She is definitely on this case…but it’s not easy rummaging through increasingly strange clues that point to cheating spouses, downright dirty investment schemes—even the mob. And Sarah will have to be very careful if she wants to live to bargain another day…

My Thoughts :

Seeing as I had already read the debut in this series, Tagged For Death,  I decided to give the next Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery a go.  I remember liking the first book and could actually remember a lot of the story, characters etc.  Which means it managed to make enough of an impression on me and definitely deserved to be visited again.

I have to say I am glad I went back to see what Sarah Winston was up to.  The characters and concept are not overly exciting but they have piqued my interest and I do like them.  The garage sale angle isn't something I can relate to but Sarah is a strong minded woman around the same age as myself who has found herself re-inventing herself after her marriage breaks down.

The plot this time around once again has some connections to the Army Base life Sarah has not really left behind.  Although it is a big part of the community it seems that this will also be a on-going connection in the series.  It was nice to follow the clues and try and figure things out as the story unfolded.  It wasn't easy to put things together but finally it all made sense.

Although this was only the second book, the author has managed to build up a lovely community and a welcoming atmosphere.  If I had picked this one up not knowing it was only the second in the series I would have sworn it was the fifth or sixth installment.   Things are just so well thought out and written.

This is a series worth checking out.  A nice cozy and not over the top or over bearing.  Just a great mystery with some interesting characters and a well told story.

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136) Tagged for Death by Sherry Harris

The Blurb :

Starting your life over at age thirty-eight isn't easy, but that's what Sarah Winston finds herself facing when her husband CJ runs off with a 19-year-old temptress named Tiffany. Sarah's self-prescribed therapy happily involves hitting all the garage and tag sales in and around her small town of Ellington, Massachusetts. If only she could turn her love for bargain hunting into a full-time career.

One man's junk is another man's treasure

But after returning from a particularly successful day searching for yard sale treasures, Sarah finds a grisly surprise in one of her bags: a freshly bloodied shirt…that undoubtedly belongs to her ex, CJ, who now happens to be Ellington's chief of police. If that's not bad enough, it seems Tiffany has gone missing. Now it's up to Sarah to prove that her cold-hearted ex is not a cold-blooded killer…

But finding that treasure can be murder.

My Thoughts :

The blurb and cover convinced me to give this one a try. Tagged To Death looked like your typical cozy mystery but the blurb didn't give away how much was really going to be mixed up in this new series.  The obvious garage sale angle was in plain sight but a huge part of this cozy had to do with the Army and the local Police.  There were also ties and/or mention of the Mob, the DA and some local higher ups.  A bit of a theme muddle but also a very interesting mixture.

I liked Sarah from the get go.  She was nice, sympathetic and strong.  She also got a lot of points for  being the poor ex-wife but just her general character was easy to get along with and it was nice to get to know her.  The situation she gets herself into was slightly confusing at first but as the plot opened up I started to notice that things weren't adding up.  I actually guessed one twist in the mystery but it wasn't until Sarah realised who was the murderer that things clicked together properly.

All the little twists and turns were good and kept me reading.  Sarah's involvement with the local Police was an frustrating but also interesting one which turned out to be quite a surprising turn of events in the end.  The Army involvement may have been a little too much for me at times but maybe that was due to my total lack of knowledge as far as Army bases are concerned.  I hoped that more would come of the DA angle but by the end of the book it looked like things are going a completely different way in the love department.

Tagged for Death could have been a one off novel but I would be happy to read more about Sarah and her Garage Sales.  The book was good, caught my attention and kept me interested till the end.  It was a little too twisted at some points but everything got straightened out by the end and I was satisfied with the outcome.  This is definitely an author I would check out again and if there are any more books in the series I will make sure to give them a try.

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