On Borrowed Crime: A Jane Doe Book Club Mystery

by Kate Young

Overview

A shoe-in read for fans of Ellery Adams and Kate Carlisle, On Borrowed Crime is the first in Kate Young's new Georgia-set, sweet tea filled, Jane Doe Book Club mysteries.

The Jane Doe book club enjoys guessing whodunit, but when murder happens in their midst, they discover solving crimes isn't fun and games...

Lyla Moody loves her sleepy little town of Sweet Mountain, Georgia. She likes her job as receptionist for her uncle's private investigative firm, her fellow true crime obsessed Jane Doe members are the friends she's always wanted, and her parents just celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. But recently, with her best friend Melanie on vacation, and her ex-boyfriend and horrible cousin becoming an item and moving in next door to her, her idyllic life is on the fritz. The cherry on top of it all is finding Carol, a member of the club, dead and shoved into a suitcase, left at Lyla's front door.

Unusual circumstances notwithstanding, with Carol's heart condition, the coroner rules Carol's death undetermined. But when they discover the suitcase belongs to Melanie, who had returned from her vacation the following morning, Sweet Mountain police begin to suspect Lyla's best friend. Determined that police are following the wrong trail, to clear her friend's name, and to not allow Carol become one of the club's studied cold cases, Lyla begins to seek out the real killer. That is, until she becomes the one sought after. Now, finding the truth could turn her into the killer's next plot twist, unless she wins the game of cat and mouse.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643854625
Publisher:	CROOKED LANE BOOKS
Publication date:	10/06/2020
Series:	A Jane Doe Book Club Mystery , #1
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	179,194
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Kate Young is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Guppy Chapter. She is married and the mother of three. She lives in a small town in Georgia and when she is not writing her own books, she's reading or cooking.

Editorial Reviews

08/31/2020

Lyla Moody, the 31-year-old narrator of this amusing series launch from Young (the Marygene Brown mysteries), works for her uncle Calvin as a receptionist at Cousins Investigative Services in the “Mayberry-esque” town of Sweet Mountain, Ga. Her mother would rather see her working behind the makeup counter at a department store. Indeed, as Lyla observes, “Here in Sweet Mountain... old southern families resided. Our tea was sweet, our accents were sweeter, and our ladies were expected to be the same. Murder didn’t quite fit in.” One afternoon at work, she gets a call from Judge David Timms, who tells her his wife, Carol, a friend of Lyla’s and a fellow member of the Jane Doe book club, has been missing for four days. Back home, Lyla finds a large suitcase on her doorstep, and inside is Carol’s body. Carol, as it turns out, had been investigating a local cold case murder. Agatha Christie–like clues and a witty narrator who knows how to handle herself enhance the subsequent sleuthing. This skillful blend of detective work and chick lit will appeal to cozy readers. Agent: Dawn Dowdle, Blue Ridge Agency. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for On Borrowed Crime:
“This skillful blend of detective work and chick lit will appeal to cozy readers.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A fine outing for a spunky heroine whose job and other activities provide plenty of grist for future investigations.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“As mystery writers go, Kate Young is consistently one of the best.”
—Midwest Book Review

“Thoroughly engrossing.”
—Cozy Mystery Book Review

“A fun read with interesting characters and a solid plot.”
—Red Carpet Crash

“A good start for a new series.”
—MyShelf

“A twisty tale of murder…This engaging mystery is spiced with Southern charm, family drama and a tantalizing bit of romance.  Enjoy!”
—Victoria Abbott, national bestselling author of the Book Collector mysteries
 
“Great fun, filled with small town Southern charm and outlandish characters.”
—Terrie Farley Moran, Agatha Award-winning author of the Read ‘Em and Eat mysteries

From the Publisher

2020-08-19
A wannabe Georgia detective gets closer than she’d like to a murder.

Much to the dismay of her mother, who’d rather she be thinking of marriage than murder, Lyla Moody’s been working for her uncle Calvin, a private detective in peaceful Sweet Mountain. Lyla, a member of the Jane Doe book club, whose members enjoy delving into crime, spots club member Carol Timms sitting in a car with an unidentifiable person and looking desperate. Carol had thought she knew the identity of one of many dead women found along the I-85 corridor and wanted the club to investigate. Now she’s missed her chance, for all too soon after her husband, Judge David Timms, calls Calvin to find his missing wife, her body turns up stuffed in a suitcase left at Lyla’s door. The local police focus on Lyla’s ex-boyfriend Kevin, who’s just moved in across the street from Lyla with her disagreeable cousin, Ellen, whom he's now involved with. Carol had been squabbling with Kevin, who was her former stepbrother, over the disposition of an inheritance from a relative. But she also was arguing with her husband and getting psychological help from Lyla’s father. The club members investigate until they turn up enough dirt to earn Lyla threatening notes from a possible serial killer. She works with both the police chief, another former boyfriend, and the investigator of the I-85 cold cases and is not deterred when they both warn her of the dangers.

A fine outing for a spunky heroine whose job and other activities provide plenty of grist for future investigations.

Kirkus Reviews