Roadside Homicide - River Sutton #1

Roadside Homicide is the first River Sutton cozy mystery by Nancy Basile. Released 26th June 2021, it's 140 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 second book in the series, A Fatal Fumble, 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 home visiting her family in Sutton River as the maid of honor in her sister's wedding. She runs into lots of familiar faces from her past and not all of them stir up happy memories.

There's a very central slow burn romance element with the local handsome law enforcement officer, naturally. I liked that Robin wasn't helpless or prone to swooning helplessly. She makes quite a few questionable decisions, not out of the ordinary for cozies. The denouement and resolution weren't overly surprising, and it's not a huge head scratcher "whodunit", but the author does tie up all the loose ends satisfyingly. Both books in the series work perfectly well as standalones.

It's a pleasant, light read, ideal for commute or travel reading. The language is squeaky clean and there's no sexual content whatsoever. It's set in a fictitious town in northern WV and the author seems to be intimately familiar with the area.

Three and a half stars. Well done, and the series seems to be developing well. Cozy mystery comfort food.

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