Murder Mountain by Owen Curvelo, Illustrator, Katya Strasburger
Publisher: Yarn Authority
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by SnowdropRosefield has moose, a ski resort, and new this season, murder. Come for a visit. Bring your buds.
Looking for an alpine vacation? Or do you long for the rural life where cows number greater than folks? Nestled amongst the Green Mountains of northern Vermont, Rosefield is the perfect setting to escape your problems and enjoy a cozy mystery. Within these borders, you’ll encounter over a hundred color illustrations to enhance your respite.
Maybe you’ll meet one of the locals. You might share a chair with Joey Rogers, skier extraordinaire and self-proclaimed hero of this small town. Or spot Happy Smith slicing through the glades on his snowboard-as long as it isn’t Grandma Day. Enjoy an après ski at the Bent Pole, and you’ll receive impeccable service from the best bartender in town, Jane Reech. And who knows? Maybe you’ll help Sheriff Peggy McStoots figure out whodunit.
You might even meet Rodney Buric II, the man responsible for the resort’s latest rebrand. Because who wants a mountain without an extra thrill? Sure, you’ve been to resorts with their fancy villages and high-speed quads. But have you ever experienced a . . . Murder Mountain?
A somewhat quirky murder mystery with a ski resort and town for it’s setting. This is as humorous as it is a good mystery. It has your small town cop (a lady this time, I might add) as well as some very funny and unconventional characters. Then again, I grew up in a small town and we had our share of eccentric characters too, so maybe that’s not so odd . What is odd though is naming a ski resort Murder Mountain to try and raise its popularity. And boy does it. All of that leads to a funny story full of illustrations that add to it greatly. In fact, the illustrations seem to break up your reading in two perfect places. At certain times when the illustration gives you an entire mental and physical picture making the story even more poignant and also, right when it was time to take a breath and move on to the next chapter. Even if it seems odd for a cozy mystery to have illustrations, these seem to only enhance the story.
If you like small town mysteries, quirky characters, and a fast read, this is for you. Murder Mountain is Book 1 in a series titled “Rosefield”. According to the author, Book 2 titled “Day Trip to Jay Peak” is in the works.
