Vinyl Resting Place is the first book in a new shopfront cozy series by Olivia Blacke. Released 27th Dec 2022 by Macmillan on their St. Martin's Press imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in mass market paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This series features a trio of sisters who are re-opening their family's vanished vinyl record store with collectible records, which have come full circle and are cool again, along with a cafe and coffee shop on the premises. Things certainly don't go to plan when a body is discovered in the storage room after the big opening night party.
The writing is engaging and the author has a solid feel for plotting and dialogue. Some of the eccentric small-town secondary characters were a bit archetypal and "trope-y" but they weren't overly intrusive or only there as window-dressing, and I wasn't yanked out of my suspension of disbelief during the read. The climax, denouement and resolution were satisfying and I really enjoyed the interplay between the sisters and their extended family and the record store/coffee shop setting was also enjoyable.
The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 9 hours 15 minutes and is well narrated by Nicol Zanzarella. She has a well modulated alto voice and does a good job with a large cast of characters and manages to differentiate all of them well enough that they're easy to distinguish and never monotonous or confusing. Sound and production quality were high throughout.
Three and a half stars. I enjoyed the musical trivia and word play throughout. There was some repetition, and the slow burn potential romance angle felt a little pasted in, but all in all, it's a fun shopfront cozy. It'll be interesting to see how the author develops the series and characters.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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