Title: Murder in Montauk (Blake Sisters Travel Mystery Prequel)
Author: Carter Fielding
Published on: 15 August 2021
Genre: Cozy Mystery
The Blake sisters – Finley and Whitt – are spending a weekend at Montauk, Long Island with their mother and Finley’s best friend Mooney. It is supposed to be a Mama’s birthday special weekend – whole lot of shopping, spa and chilling.
Finley and Whitt are booked for a spa session but it goes terribly wrong when one of the clients is found dead on the massage table. An innocent person is accused of the crime and Finley wants to help. But is putting her life in danger worth the risk?
Murder in Montauk is the prequel to Carter Fielding’s Blake Sisters Travel Mystery series. Whitt and Finley are not your usual siblings; Whitt lives in Manila, Philippines, while Finley has just returned from Morocco after a heart-break. The two sisters are Army brats and have traveled the world with their parents. Whitt is obsessed with shopping and everything flashy while Finley is just the opposite.
Their father has planned a ladies-only weekend getaway at the Hamptons to celebrate Mama’s 60th birthday. Whitt, Finley, Mooney and Mama drive to their AirBnB house in Montauk. On one of their shopping ‘expeditions’, they meet Mike. Like Mooney, Mike is a real estate agent. He has his eyes on Finley (though he’s married) and invites the group to his house for dinner. They meet Rachel, a masseuse, at Mike’s house.
Mike sets up a spa session for the ladies the next day. Whitt and Fin arrive first and while they are waiting for Rachel to set up, they hear a scream. They find one of the clients lying dead on the massage table. The dead man is none other than Mike. Initially, it was believed to be a case of heart-attack but soon, the sisters learn Mike was murdered. And, Rachel is arrested for killing him. Finley believes Rachel is innocent and wants to help her.
As I had already read the first book in this series – Murder in the Medina – I knew a little bit of Finley’s backstory. In this book, Finley reminisces the times spent with Mark but refuses to talk about it with Mooney or her family. Other characters’ backstory is not explored either. Having said that, the bond that the Blake sisters share and Fin’s friendship with Mooney is well portrayed so that’s a win-win.
The crime doesn’t happen until second half of the book. Also, this was a novella, not a full-length novel. In my opinion, Murder in the Medina was a better introduction to the series than Murder in Montauk.
If you are looking for a unique cozy mystery based on a travel theme, you might want to give Carter Fielding’s Blake Sisters Travel Mystery series a try.
I received an ARC from BooksGoSocial and NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
The Book Decoder 
You must be logged in to post a comment.