Mystery at the Masquerade is the third book in the Secrets and Scrabble cozy mystery series by Josh Lanyon. Due out 28th Feb 2021, it's 219 pages and available in ebook format.
As a light and engaging series, this one is so appealing. Protagonist Ellery
is drawn into murder and skullduggery again. That obviously puts the skids on his budding
friendship/romance with the local island police chief, Jack who is on and off again. (Sort yourselves out, boys! Don't make me come over there).
Although this is the third book in the series, and I have admittedly read and reviewed the other two, I think it would work perfectly well as a standalone. The author is a technically adept writer and provides
necessary backstory without info-dumping. The narrative is lighthearted,
including an ensemble cast of oddball small-town characters. This is one I recommend without reservation to my cozy/romance/mystery loving friends.
There are some fairly silly and over the top developments and plot twists, but it's a village bookstore cozy, so
it's really part of the whimsy. The "over the top" characters and dialogue were always on the right side of whimsical and charming and didn't shade over into annoying or yank me out of my suspension of disbelief, so it was a very fun read. There's also the required slow-burn
on/off romance subplot with the handsome lawman, again par for the
course (although I -did- find myself wanting to bang their heads together because of stubborn wilful pride and intentional misunderstanding!). The language is clean, the murder(s) are off screen and free
from violence, there's no direct graphic sexual content; it's a well written and
charming bookstore cozy. The author/publisher has taken pains to make it
clear that the romance is between two men, so I won't mention that, but
there's absolutely no content which would scandalize anyone's maiden auntie. This is pure escapist comfort reading, simple and fun. There's no covid-19 in Pirate's Cove, Rhode Island, for which I'm grateful. Sometimes it's wonderful to just escape and live vicariously in the pages of my books.
Charming, diverting, and well written. I intend to seek out future volumes in the series. Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
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