Book Review: Murder on the Steel Pier (Tess Mancini Time Travel Mystery, #1) by Rosie Genova

Murder on the Steel Pier by Rosie Genova
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A fun and fascinating debut for this Imaginative and unique new mystery series!

Murder on the Steel Pier is the debut novel in author Rose Genova's imaginative, fantastically unique, and definitely nostalgic new Tess Mancini Time Travel Mystery series. After a night out on the town of Atlantic City celebrating her 35th birthday, a female reporter awakes the next morning in someone else's bed with no memory of how she got there. But this formula for a cliched Walk of Shame takes an immediate left turn: the bed is in her Great-Great-Aunt Netta's boardinghouse, everyone there thinks she's her long-deceased Great Aunt Theresa, and it's 1955 instead of 2025!

Teresa "Tess" Mancini has lived in Atlantic City her whole life, surrounded by family. Still, nothing prepares her for what she goes through with her distant relations and the hidden family secrets she uncovers. Life for the 30-year-old Theresa Mancini, a reporter like Tess, is much more restricted and sedate than what Tess is accustomed to in the present. However, Theresa is one smart cookie (don't let Zia Netta hear you say that) as she helps her great-niece navigate 1950s standards of decorum. I really liked that Theresa's thoughts would occasionally slip into Tess's mind while Tess unconsciously retained much of Theresa's knowledge of the times when she took her place in their shared body. Like Theresa, though, there are no flies on Tess either, and she's able to fake her way through her new life, look into the murder of one of the boarding house guests, and help Theresa's brother Val (the man who would be Tess's grandfather) from taking the rap. Val had publicly threatened the man the day before he was shot and left to die at The Steel Pier on the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk.

The plot is one big twist, with Tess trying to avert disaster for herself and her family in the future by changing something in the past. (She's seen the movies, too!) Suspicious boarders, shady characters, and secrets abound and steadily build the suspense in the past as Tess reaches out to one of the greatest minds of the 20th century to help her return to her rightful place in time. Wrap all this up with Val's looming death sentence, and the story kept me on the edge of my seat until the very final resolution.

With its great plot, surprising twists and turns, and engaging characters, I recommend MURDER ON THE STEEL PIER to historical cozy mystery readers, especially those who enjoy a time-travel element in their stories.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.

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Book Review: Grave Words (Deadly Deadlines Mystery, #2) by Gerri Lewis

Grave Words by Gerri Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A delightful mix of mystery and lively banter from the former reporter turned obituary writer.

Grave Words is the second book in author Gerri Lewis’s fresh and fun new cozy Deadly Deadlines Mystery series, and it is a delightful mix of mystery, lively banter, and astute observations from the former reporter turned obituary writer main character. Winter Snow has developed a niche market business based on her ability to write warm and engaging obituaries that accurately memorialize her subjects, and is slowly starting to gain attention and achieve some success. But when the third in a string of suspicious fires also claims the life of Wandering Chester, a local character, she and everyone else have questions. However, the police, including Winter’s love interest, Detective Kip Michaels, refuse to release any information about the dead man, and rumors start to fly. When Scoop, the local reporter and Winter’s best friend, refuses to reveal the name of his source, someone who knows a little too much about the facts of the fires, he becomes a person of interest, and Winter steps in to clear his name without breaking his bonds of confidentiality.

Winter Snow is an endearing character, loyal to her friends and family, yet she walks a delicate line between following her curiosity and maintaining a harmonious relationship with her new beau. Still, she crosses that line when Scoop becomes a suspect in the arson cases. I enjoyed her clever and lively banter with everyone, and the dialogue really sparkles throughout.

The story explores the reporters’ dilemma of keeping an informant’s name confidential versus identifying a potentially critical witness with information that could break a case wide open. Of course, leading the official investigation is Winter’s tight-lipped, significant other, Kip, who is adamant she stays out of his business. She begins to question whether a relationship with someone who keeps disappointing her is even right for her. You’ll have to read the book to discover if she answers that question or not.

I recommend GRAVE WORDS to readers of cozy mysteries.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.

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