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levisamjuno's review against another edition
4.0
Room for Murder is the fourth in Tim Myers' "Lighthouse Inn Mystery" series. It takes place in the fictional small town of Elkton Falls in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina. (I'm assuming it's fictional; a quick Google Maps search did not point me anywhere near NC.) The main setting is the Hatteras West Inn and Lighthouse, run by Alex Winston. The landlocked lighthouse on the grounds is an exact replica of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on NC's east coast.
As I remember thinking the first time I read this, you can tell that this is a story in a series; but the author does a great job of alluding to previous occurrences in Elkton Falls or outright catching the reader up on some of the details that would be familiar to a return reader. He does this in a very casual way that does not detract from the rhythm of the story and really made me want to go back to the first three books to see what adventures I missed.
I really enjoyed my time with this book as the action took up very quickly and the mystery held tight throughout the majority of the pages. Plus, the sideline plots of the tentative and the mayoral race allowed for the dialogue to really flesh out the characters in a realistic manner. I especially enjoyed that main character is not really acting in the typical mystery book fashion as an over-the-top amateur sleuth who asks all the right questions; Alex seems like a normal guy who is just trying to help his friends and getting caught up in some of the craziness as it happens.
One of the chapters is a pretty hilariousto which the book's back cover summary refers.
Two very big things stood out to me in this book that made me like it even more, though. Firstly, apart from the murders the book is clean. It's very rare to come across an author who understands that you can tell a riveting tale without using profanity or gratuitous sexual scenes. Notably there was a scene where a character was said to swear, but the offending word was not used; and I don't feel the story was any poorer for doing so.
Secondly, the story takes place in a part of the country I'd visited many times and have oft dreamed of living some day. It's very similar to the small-town culture I grew up in along with the interesting characters that really do exist in these types of places. Myers does a great job of presenting the southern charm of North Carolinians with some of the references and figures of speech he used, which based on his bio seems to be because that is where he lives.
I recommend this book and look forward to finding the rest of the series to get more involved in the Lighthouse Inn Mysteries.
As I remember thinking the first time I read this, you can tell that this is a story in a series; but the author does a great job of alluding to previous occurrences in Elkton Falls or outright catching the reader up on some of the details that would be familiar to a return reader. He does this in a very casual way that does not detract from the rhythm of the story and really made me want to go back to the first three books to see what adventures I missed.
I really enjoyed my time with this book as the action took up very quickly and the mystery held tight throughout the majority of the pages. Plus, the sideline plots of the tentative
Spoiler
relationship between Alex and EliseOne of the chapters is a pretty hilarious
Spoiler
elimination of a red herringTwo very big things stood out to me in this book that made me like it even more, though. Firstly, apart from the murders the book is clean. It's very rare to come across an author who understands that you can tell a riveting tale without using profanity or gratuitous sexual scenes. Notably there was a scene where a character was said to swear, but the offending word was not used; and I don't feel the story was any poorer for doing so.
Secondly, the story takes place in a part of the country I'd visited many times and have oft dreamed of living some day. It's very similar to the small-town culture I grew up in along with the interesting characters that really do exist in these types of places. Myers does a great job of presenting the southern charm of North Carolinians with some of the references and figures of speech he used, which based on his bio seems to be because that is where he lives.
I recommend this book and look forward to finding the rest of the series to get more involved in the Lighthouse Inn Mysteries.
luffy79's review
3.0
If I was lenient in my rating of the last book, then I'm afraid I'll be severe here. This series is getting increasingly generic.
There were unheard of expressions peppered throughout the back and forth of the people, and it exasperated me, though such use of language has its charm. But not in our book.
The one realistic occurrence in the book was the solving of the murder. There was little to go on but the main character connected the dots the same way I did twice in my life. That's it for now.
There were unheard of expressions peppered throughout the back and forth of the people, and it exasperated me, though such use of language has its charm. But not in our book.
The one realistic occurrence in the book was the solving of the murder. There was little to go on but the main character connected the dots the same way I did twice in my life. That's it for now.
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