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thephdivabooks's review
4.0
200 years ago, Lucky Whisky was founded in Gett, Florida. When Lucky shared his secret recipe with this best friend Gett, he stole it and started a rival distillery. Centuries later, the feud between the families (and the distilleries) hasn’t gone away...
About the Book
Charlotte Lucky isn’t exactly Gett, Florida’s favorite citizen. Too many remember the time she defaced the local water tower with a suggestive update to the town’s name (Getting Lucky). And her most memorable role during her recent stint in Hollywood—victim #2 in an STD commercial—hasn’t helped them forget, much less forgive, her youthful hijinks.
When she returns to town after her grandfather Jack--owner of the Lucky Whiskey Distillery--has a heart attack, she finds herself to be an outsider in her own town. Brodie Gett, her childhood nemesis and grandson of the town’s founding family, thinks none too fondly of Charlotte. And Roger Kerrick, her high school boyfriend, now works as her grandpa’s chief distiller.
But she never gets to find her place in the town, because the first cask of whiskey she tries to tap contains Roger's pickled body. Now her chilly reception back home poses a real threat. Brodie’s brother, Sheriff Danny Gett, arrests Jack on suspicion of Kerrick’s murder. Charlotte’s only hope of clearing him is to pry loose enough information about the night of the crime to unmask the real killer. But it will take more than luck to save Charlotte from the perils of tracking down a coldblooded murderer.
Reflection
I found the mix of drama and laughs charming! The town of Gett was the type of small town that if a resident leaves for a few years, they come back as an outsider. And that’s what Charlotte is dealing with. A bit of sharp-tongued rapport between Charlotte and rival Brodie Gett (of Gett the town and Gett whisky, the rival to Lucky whisky owned by Charlotte’s grandfather) really made the enemy-to-friends vibe. This is a fun first book in a new cozy series!
I really liked the way the author wrote the dialogue between the characters. Brodie and Charlotte have a great back-and-forth that really engaged me. I'm so curious to know more about Charlotte's parents though! I suspect we may get a book on that very subject!
A few reviewers noted that this got a tad repetitive, and while I agree, it didn't bother me! I found the murder mystery remained front-and-center, and had enough suspects, clues, and red herrings to keep my mind spinning. The setting and the theme of this cozy were so fun, and the author kept the balance of mystery over cutesy!
Thank you to Kaye Publicity and Midnight Ink Books for my copy. Opinions are my own.
About the Book
Charlotte Lucky isn’t exactly Gett, Florida’s favorite citizen. Too many remember the time she defaced the local water tower with a suggestive update to the town’s name (Getting Lucky). And her most memorable role during her recent stint in Hollywood—victim #2 in an STD commercial—hasn’t helped them forget, much less forgive, her youthful hijinks.
When she returns to town after her grandfather Jack--owner of the Lucky Whiskey Distillery--has a heart attack, she finds herself to be an outsider in her own town. Brodie Gett, her childhood nemesis and grandson of the town’s founding family, thinks none too fondly of Charlotte. And Roger Kerrick, her high school boyfriend, now works as her grandpa’s chief distiller.
But she never gets to find her place in the town, because the first cask of whiskey she tries to tap contains Roger's pickled body. Now her chilly reception back home poses a real threat. Brodie’s brother, Sheriff Danny Gett, arrests Jack on suspicion of Kerrick’s murder. Charlotte’s only hope of clearing him is to pry loose enough information about the night of the crime to unmask the real killer. But it will take more than luck to save Charlotte from the perils of tracking down a coldblooded murderer.
Reflection
I found the mix of drama and laughs charming! The town of Gett was the type of small town that if a resident leaves for a few years, they come back as an outsider. And that’s what Charlotte is dealing with. A bit of sharp-tongued rapport between Charlotte and rival Brodie Gett (of Gett the town and Gett whisky, the rival to Lucky whisky owned by Charlotte’s grandfather) really made the enemy-to-friends vibe. This is a fun first book in a new cozy series!
I really liked the way the author wrote the dialogue between the characters. Brodie and Charlotte have a great back-and-forth that really engaged me. I'm so curious to know more about Charlotte's parents though! I suspect we may get a book on that very subject!
A few reviewers noted that this got a tad repetitive, and while I agree, it didn't bother me! I found the murder mystery remained front-and-center, and had enough suspects, clues, and red herrings to keep my mind spinning. The setting and the theme of this cozy were so fun, and the author kept the balance of mystery over cutesy!
Thank you to Kaye Publicity and Midnight Ink Books for my copy. Opinions are my own.
jennie_cole's review
3.0
A Shot of Murder is a small town murder mystery. This is the beginning of a new series with very real, southern characters. Charlotte Lucky is the main character and the people in her small home town definitely have opinions about her. The premise is that the distiller of a local family whiskey maker is killed and hidden on Lucky Whiskey's property. In short order the wrong person is arrested and Charlotte must solve the case.
This reminds me very much of the Wine Country Mystery series by Ellen Crosby. If you enjoyed that series or want a quick murder novel this one might work for you.
This reminds me very much of the Wine Country Mystery series by Ellen Crosby. If you enjoyed that series or want a quick murder novel this one might work for you.
bookedonbooks2020's review
5.0
A Shot of Murder by J.A. Kazimer was a fun read on a summer day. The first title in the Lucky Whiskey Mystery series left me ready for the next installment.
Charlotte Lucky, or "Charms", has returned home to small town Gett, Florida from Hollywood to care for her grandfather, Jack after his heart attack. Part of his care means taking over the running of Lucky Dystillery, while continuing the feud with the Gett Family, particularly "Grodie" Brodie Gett. After finding Lucky Dystillery's head distiller pickled in a barrel of whiskey, Charlotte has her work cut out for her trying to clear Jack of a charge of murder, with a little help from Brodie.
I enjoyed the familiar feeling of a small town full of gossip and innuendo. The heat between Charms and Grodie had me torn between wanting them to take it further but also wanting them to hold back until Charms is sure she can trust a Gett man. This was a page a turner and I look forward to catching up with the people from the town of Gett in the future.
Thank you to Net Galley, Midnight Ink Publishers and J.A. Kazimer for allowing to me read an ARC of A Shot of Murder.
Charlotte Lucky, or "Charms", has returned home to small town Gett, Florida from Hollywood to care for her grandfather, Jack after his heart attack. Part of his care means taking over the running of Lucky Dystillery, while continuing the feud with the Gett Family, particularly "Grodie" Brodie Gett. After finding Lucky Dystillery's head distiller pickled in a barrel of whiskey, Charlotte has her work cut out for her trying to clear Jack of a charge of murder, with a little help from Brodie.
I enjoyed the familiar feeling of a small town full of gossip and innuendo. The heat between Charms and Grodie had me torn between wanting them to take it further but also wanting them to hold back until Charms is sure she can trust a Gett man. This was a page a turner and I look forward to catching up with the people from the town of Gett in the future.
Thank you to Net Galley, Midnight Ink Publishers and J.A. Kazimer for allowing to me read an ARC of A Shot of Murder.
gothicvamperstein's review
4.0
A Shot of Murder is a first in a new series and I really enjoyed reading this one. It has a solid plot line as well as several interesting characters that was well developed. An added bonus to it all was of course the whiskey distillery side of it all.
seanbyrne92's review
4.0
Firstly thank you to NetGalley for this ARC - took longer than expected to come around to finishing it. My first initial impressions weren't good and I wasn't really enjoying the fist 50% or so of the book.
We are introduced to Charlotte 'Charms' Lucky, a local town girl who moved to LA from a small town called Gett, her aspiring actress dreams are put on hold as she returns to Gett to help her grandfather out with their whiskey distillery Lucky Whiskey. The character of Charms for me became annoying and irritating with such quotes like "Channeling my inner brat" or "I stomped my feet like a child" - I am not sure how the author expects us to relate to 20-something woman acting like a child who wasn't getting her way.
Her grandfather Jack is suspect number 1 for the death of their employee Roger who is found on the distillery premises in a cask. She then embarks on her own investigation to find out the real killer. This is where I began to get annoyed with her behaviour. Thankfully after the 50% mark - her behaviour changed and became more appropriate, much better humour added to the story. And this is what saved the rating for me. As one other reviewer mentioned, if this was become a series Charlotte would need a character improvement in order for the reader to relate in some way.
We are introduced to Charlotte 'Charms' Lucky, a local town girl who moved to LA from a small town called Gett, her aspiring actress dreams are put on hold as she returns to Gett to help her grandfather out with their whiskey distillery Lucky Whiskey. The character of Charms for me became annoying and irritating with such quotes like "Channeling my inner brat" or "I stomped my feet like a child" - I am not sure how the author expects us to relate to 20-something woman acting like a child who wasn't getting her way.
Her grandfather Jack is suspect number 1 for the death of their employee Roger who is found on the distillery premises in a cask. She then embarks on her own investigation to find out the real killer. This is where I began to get annoyed with her behaviour. Thankfully after the 50% mark - her behaviour changed and became more appropriate, much better humour added to the story. And this is what saved the rating for me. As one other reviewer mentioned, if this was become a series Charlotte would need a character improvement in order for the reader to relate in some way.
deborahs's review
3.0
I received and ARC copy of this book from NetGalley.
Hollywood actress Charlotte "Charms" Lucky comes comes home to Gett, Florida to care for her grandfather after his heart attack. Caring for him entails taking care of their whiskey distillery and opening a cask leads to the discovery of the body of an employee in the whiskey. When her grandfather is arrested for the murder, Charlotte knows she will have to look for the killer herself. Her high school nemesis, Brodie Gett of Gett Whiskey, says he'll help, but is he trying to distract her and keep one of his own family from being caught?
This is a solid first novel in a series where the small town's two biggest employers are rival whiskey distillers. Family loyalty is more important than anything else. The ending is abrupt, maybe because the author plans on starting the next installment where this book left off?
Hollywood actress Charlotte "Charms" Lucky comes comes home to Gett, Florida to care for her grandfather after his heart attack. Caring for him entails taking care of their whiskey distillery and opening a cask leads to the discovery of the body of an employee in the whiskey. When her grandfather is arrested for the murder, Charlotte knows she will have to look for the killer herself. Her high school nemesis, Brodie Gett of Gett Whiskey, says he'll help, but is he trying to distract her and keep one of his own family from being caught?
This is a solid first novel in a series where the small town's two biggest employers are rival whiskey distillers. Family loyalty is more important than anything else. The ending is abrupt, maybe because the author plans on starting the next installment where this book left off?
megggriffin's review
2.0
"Never be ashamed to be a woman," and I wasn't. Not now. Or ever.
There was a day I sat browsing through Netgalley, and I ended up requesting an absurd amount of cozy mystery galleys. A shot of Murder is the last in that group that I could actually read (one I couldn’t….always make sure there aren’t 20 other books in the series before you check it out.) So thank you to Netgalley and Midnight Ink for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.
Also some content warnings: murder, attempted rape
Synopsis
Charlotte “Charms” Lucky returns home from LA when her grandfather Jack has a heart attack. The small town of Gett, FL is definitely the opposite of big shot LA, but it does have something that LA doesn’t: the whiskey making business.
It’s a brief return, just to help Jack get back on his feet. Charlotte will help run the business, but it’s all in good hands as they have the best distiller in the business. Until he turns up dead. With the competition breathing down her neck to try and buy out the business, and her old time rival back in town as well, Charlotte now needs to clear her family name and save her grandfather from jail.
Characters
Charlotte Lucky - "Charms" returning home from LA to take care of her grandfather after he has a heart attack.
Jack Lucky - Charlotte's grandfather, who raised her after her parents died. Also the owner of Lucky Whiskey
Brodie Gett - honorably discharged from the army and former adversary of Charlotte
Rue Gett - 80 year old grandmother of Brodie and Danny. She's the owner of Gett Whiskey
Danny Gett - town's sheriff
Rants, Raves, and Reviews
I don’t pretend to think writing cozy mysteries are easy or anything. Mysteries need to make sense, with clues thrown through out the book and a reasonable solution. In some ways, this book had a good plot: two families have been competing for the best whiskey for 200 years. Lucky’s distillery is having some money issues, and Gett’s is sniffing around to potentially buy them out. Also maybe Charms and Brodie are super into each other and don’t quite realize it. Or at least she doesn’t.
That’s about where the fun stops. I don’t know enough about the author, but I don’t get the impression she’s lived in a small town in the south. Now granted, I lived in a town in the midsouth that wasn’t quite as small as this, but still ridiculously small enough that everyone knows everyone’s business. So I am not going to act like I know everything, but this doesn’t feel like someone who understands small town life.
By the end of this book you know super well:
- Charlotte painted the water tower and oh boy does everyone hate her for it (it is mentioned 26 times.)
- Getts are the worst.
- Maybe gators are the worst. (gators are mentioned 34 times)
- Brodie Gett is actually the worst according to Charlotte.
- Hey did you know that this town is small and redneck-ish?
- And also super white for South Florida?
- Our main character is/was an actress and did a small role on NCIS and an STD commercial. Will she go back to LA?
- Lucky is the best whiskey and it must be mentioned every time whiskey is mentioned
Seriously, this book suffers from being way too repetitive. And just poorly constructed. Everyone is so angry at this woman who, as a teenager, changed the water tower from saying “Gett” to “Getting Lucky.” NO ONE holds a grudge that long without a reason. Was it brand new? Did it cost them some best small town in America award? No. It’s just something that happened, and apparently nothing else has happened in the last ten years that is even close to that bad.
This town is on the poorer side, with less than 1,000 people. Yet it doesn’t seem that whiskey is what’s keeping the town a float: in other words, this isn’t a town that solely exists because of the two distilleries. Well, okay, it probably should be, but it isn’t quite presented that way.
My other major issue with this book is that at one point Charlotte was almost raped by a guy named Boone Daniels. Not the pioneer Daniel Boone, of course. Brodie Gett, who we are constantly told was a terrible person, saved her and beat up Boone. And then apparently she was distraught because he didn’t try to kiss her? AFTER A GUY ATTEMPTED TO RAPE HER? A guy that’s still in town, who is only met with kind of mild contempt from most people.
That night Brodie had kindly drove me home, lecturing me on the evils of all guys. Besides himself, of course. For the barest of seconds, I thought for sure he'd try and kiss me. But he didn't leaving me oddly disappointed.
I’m sorry, but, no. I am to the point that if there is a rape story in a book, it needs to have a point. It needs to carry weight. It needs to not be able to be replaced by something else tragic without changing the story. It also shouldn’t have the person who almost gets raped disappointed because her hero didn’t try to kiss her. Christ that was a slap in the face.
Overall this reads like a decent third draft that needed a good beta reader to firmly tell the author “hey. Here’s a few issues we’ve got.”
Final Moments
It is a fine cozy mystery, but I can recommend so many better ones. Ones that don’t feel repetitive or have such an easy plot to solve. Ones that don’t quite insult all of Florida and southerners. (Only we Southerners can do that.)
All in all, I will probably potentially give the second book a read to see if things improve, but I don’t know if I actively recommend this one.
Also, it weirds me out when the main character in books refers to their chest by her actual measurements, multiple times.
annarella's review
4.0
It's a good cozy, engaging and entertaining.
I had some issues with Charlotte because she grates on my nerves but the cast of characters was quite likable.
I liked the humour, the plot and the mystery that kept me guessing till the end.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I had some issues with Charlotte because she grates on my nerves but the cast of characters was quite likable.
I liked the humour, the plot and the mystery that kept me guessing till the end.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
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