A Fatal Collection (Keepsake Cove Mystery, #1) by Mary Ellen Hughes

A Fatal Collection by Mary Ellen Hughes
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Callie Reed hasn’t seen her aunt Melodie for ten years since her father passed back when she was in college. With one thing or another getting in the way ever since Callie had been putting off that visit. Now however with her relationship up in the air she decided to take the time to head to the quaint little Keepsake Cove that got it’s name for it’s collectible shops and Callie’s aunt Melodie had opened a music box shop.

After arriving Callie and Melodie get a bit reconnected as Melodie is working her shop that day then the ladies head back to Melodie’s cottage behind the shop for bed. When Callie awakens things just don’t see right however with the cottage being quiet and now sign of her aunt. Thinking aunt Melodie simply went over to the shop to work Callie heads there only to find Melodie lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

The events after finding her aunt become a whirlwind as the death was ruled an accident and the funeral passes in the blink of an eye. Callie is ready to head home after the tragedy until Melodie’s lawyer announces that being the only living relative Callie has now inherited everything, including the music shop. Seeing this as a chance to start over and begin again Callie decides to move to Keepsake Cove and begins to get to know the town but still has that question of just what happened to her aunt in the back of her mind. Was it really an accident or should Callie worry about her new neighbors?

A Fatal Collection by Mary Ellen Hughes is the first book in the new Keepsake Cove Mystery series. The book is mainly a cozy mystery but it does have just a touch of a supernatural element to it as Callie begins to hear her aunt’s music box playing at times with no explanation to why since no one had been able to wind it or make it play. Otherwise the story is that of a typical cozy with the main character worried that there could have been a murder that’s being overlooked so she begins to ask questions.

This series has such a lovely setting that I was ready to go visit the little village myself. Getting it’s name from the fact that the shops in the area all catered to collecting with each having little cottages for the owners behind them sounded like such a fun place. Add just the right mix of likable characters along with those you just have to have your doubts about it made for a fun little cozy read. I was kind of on the fence if the music box playing should have been included or if maybe it needed touched upon more but in the end I’d give this first installment 4.5 stars and look forward to seeing where the story heads next.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.