Murder at the Million Dollar Pier by Gwen Mayo and Sarah E. Glenn

 

Cornelia, Percival Pettijohn and Teddy reach the Vinoy, St Petersburg, Florida. They have arrived a week later, thanks to the hold-up at Homosassa(book #1: Murder on the Mullet Express).

Cornelia is a nurse with the army while Teddy is a retired nurse. They met during the war and are very good friends. Percival Pettijohn is Cornelia’s uncle and a retired professor. At Homosassa, Percival was wrongly accused of committing a murder and Cornelia had to prove his innocence. They hope things go well at the Vinoy. But alas!

The nurses meet a soldier they treated at the war front – Mac Stevens. He introduces the ladies to his family. Teddy sees Mac’s father, slaps him and walks away. Cornelia then learns of Teddy’s secret – she was once engaged to Ansel Stevens. A couple of days later, there’s a yacht race at the pier. Ansel Stevens is angry that his younger daughter Violet is dating a jew. The young man challenges Ansel to a yacht race – if he wins, he gets to marry Violet. Ansel agrees. But as the yachts return, everybody can see that something’s wrong with Ansel’s yacht. It finally crashes into the Pier’s crane. Ansel is rushed to the hospital and is declared dead soon after.

Teddy becomes the main suspect in the case and is arrested. Percival and Cornelia are now in search of clues to prove Teddy’s innocence.

Murder at the Million Dollar Pier is an entertaining and enjoyable story. I might not have enjoyed the first book in this series but this book was way beyond my expectations. I was hooked on to the story. Mystery with a tinge of quirk, I absolutely enjoyed reading Murder at the Million Dollar Pier.

The main characters – Cornelia, Teddy and Uncle Percy are very well portrayed in this book. It felt so nice to see the naughty side of uncle Percy – don’t get the ‘naughty’ part wrong – the man isn’t related to Teddy but when questioned, he gives a marvellous answer and Teddy plays along. 😀 Teddy is a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky woman and one couldn’t imagine the things she went through when she was engaged to Ansel. He was such a brute, I tell you!

Cornelia and Uncle Percy set to investigate the murder of Ansel Stevens – only because Teddy’s the main suspect. They are shooed and shouted upon but nothing stops them from poking and prodding. Another interesting thing about this duo – Percy is fond of motion cameras and one can always find him with his tripod and camera, filming this that and everything else. Well, guess who carries his tripod around and films events when Percy cannot? Our dear Corny. 😀 (She dislikes it when her uncle calls her Corny).

The story is interesting. The mystery is well-maintained. I wouldn’t say much and make this review a spoiler but Evelyn plays quite a role in the story. I think she should be renamed as Evil-lyn. So much hatred for Teddy! My, my! The identity of the perp was a surprise. Gwen’s concocted such a brilliant mystery that until the end, I wasn’t sure if this certain someone is the killer. (Their identity is revealed but I thought it was a red herring.)

I enjoyed reading Murder at the Million Pier. I recommend this to all historical cozy fans. This is one book that you mustn’t miss if you are looking for a refreshing read. 🙂

 

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RATING

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Writing Style: 4.5/5

Plot/Story: 4.5/5

Character Development: 4.5/5

Ending: 4/5

 

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

 

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BOOK DETAILS

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Title: Murder at the Million Dollar Pier (Three snowbirds #2)

Authors: Gwen Mayo and Sarah E. Glenn

Published on: 27th September 2019

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Purchase Links (affiliates): Amazon.com | Book Depository

 

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There’s a giveaway for this tour. You can win either a digital copy (open internationally) or print copy(US only) of Murder at the Million Dollar Pier. Giveaway details are here.

 

Many thanks to Lori Caswell for giving me an opportunity to be a part of this blog tour.