BLOG TOUR – Stuck – REVIEW – Valerie's Musings

Large banner: Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours Presents "Stuck: The Penningtons Investigate" by C.T. Collier - June 20-July 3, 2017 - includes a photo of the author and the book cover

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Today, I’m happy to be bringing you a stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Stuck: The Penningtons Investigate by C.T. Collier. This was a great read and tho’ it didn’t quite hit a “5” on my scale, it’s a solid “4.5”!

Book Cover: "Stuck: The Penningtons Investigate" by C.T. Collier - green background with brown lettering - a stiletto is seen standing straight up in a wooden desk

Purchase Links: Amazon – B&N

brown bag with gold coins spilling out from the top and in a pile on the floor next to the bag.

Synopsis

Meet the Penningtons: Lyssa, Ph.D. Economics, and her husband “the handsome Brit” Kyle, Ph.D. Computer Science. When their clever minds ask questions, clever killers can’t hide.

Murder never entered the picture until Fritz Van Derzee decided, at long last, to clear his name. Who stuck a jeweled stiletto into his desktop after stabbing him to death? Fritz’s daughter, Emma, recruits her former professor Lyssa Pennington to find the killer.

But where’s the ten million Fritz was falsely accused of embezzling? Tompkins College President, Justin Cushman, hires his old friend Kyle Pennington to trace the missing money.

While Lyssa uses charm and tenacity on the long list of suspects, Kyle reconstructs the college’s old homegrown finance system. As they converge on the killer, Lyssa and Kyle may be the next two casualties.

piles of coins

Review

This book was a lot of fun for me. I had planned on reading the first book in the series before tackling this one, but life happened and that didn’t. Thankfully, I didn’t feel like I was missing a ton of important back story, maybe a little bit, but not too much.

I enjoyed the characters in this book. Lyssa and Kyle seem like people who I’d want to be friends with. They’re intelligent, inquisitive and yet they seem down-to-earth and fun. There were a couple of times that I felt Lyssa was overreacting about something, but then again, I didn’t read the escapades that happened in the first book, so perhaps she had reason. The supporting characters were great too.

The plot line moved along steadily and it kept me guessing right until the end. We all knew one of the villains, but I didn’t see the other one coming until it happened at the end. I also enjoyed the side visits that the Penningtons made. I liked the blending of Kyle’s business along with Lyssa’s career at the college. I really enjoyed their visit to Iceland and the time the book spent there.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I would definitely highly recommend this series to other cozy mystery enthusiasts!

piles of coins

About the Author

C. T. Collier was born to solve logic puzzles, wear tweed, and drink Earl Grey tea. Her professional experience in cutthroat high-tech and backstabbing higher education gave her endless opportunity to study intrigue. Add to that her longtime love of mysteries, and it’s no wonder she writes academic mysteries that draw inspiration from traditional whodunits. Her setting is entirely fictional: Tompkins College is no college and every college, and Tompkins Falls is a blend of several Finger Lakes towns, including her hometown, Seneca Falls, NY (AKA Bedford Falls from It’s a Wonderful Life).