A Fatal Fumble

A Fatal Fumble is the second River Sutton cozy mystery by Nancy Basile. Released 16th Jan 2022, it's 211 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. The first book in the series, Roadside Homicide, is also currently available on KU. There's a novella with the same main character which is available on the author's website as well. 

This is a fun and engaging small town cozy set in West Virginia. Web traffic analyst Robin is back home visiting her family in Sutton River for the weekend festivities surrounding her high school's 100th anniversary homecoming game and parade. She runs into lots of familiar faces from her past and not all of them stir up happy memories. Despite her promises after her last amateur sleuthing escapades, she's soon up to her neck in a new murder investigation. 

There's a very central romance element with the local handsome law enforcement officer, naturally. I liked that Robin wasn't helpless or prone to swooning helplessly. She does make a few questionable decisions, but overall, not as bad as many (most?) cozies. Ms. Basile is an adept author and I never found my interest waning, although there were a few eye-rollingly silly moments. The denouement and resolution weren't overly surprising, but they were satisfying. Although it's the second book in the series, it works perfectly well as a standalone.

Writers are always told to write what they know, and it's abundantly clear that the author is intimately familiar with small town West Virginia life. The various homecoming parades, main-street decorations, and all the food (and gossip) are true to life and add a lot of verisimilitude. It's a cozy, so there's not a lot of on page violence or graphic descriptions, and no overt sexual content. The MC's sister is in a stable marriage with a woman, but the author doesn't make a huge production over it. The language is squeaky clean. Definitely safe for reading on a commute or at work.

Four stars. Well done, and I look forward to more from this series. Cozy mystery comfort food.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.