Come Shell or High Water is the first book in a new light paranormal cozy shopfront mystery series by Molly MacRae. Released 25th June 2024 by Kensingon on their cozy imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, 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. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.
The author is prolific and experienced especially with the genre. This is a nicely written, entertaining, and engaging series starter with a light paranormal twist set in the Outer Banks. The MC is a widowed folklorist and former malacologist (invertebrate snail/shell expert), hence the seashells. Arriving during hurricane season, she's trips over a body, almost gets drowned, and meets the ghost of a pirate.
Being firmly cozy, there are eccentric and quirky characters aplenty. The book starts with a chaotic and crisis filled opening (MC Maureen is very nearly drowned), and an abundance of characters to start with, but for readers who bear with the chaos, it soon resolves into a fun and readable story.
The unabridged audiobook format has a run time of 10 hours 26 minutes and is capably read by Callie Beaulieu. She has a well modulated alto voice and delineates the characters clearly, and manages to make the often rapid fire dialogue understandable in context. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.
Four stars. It's a promising start to a new paranormal cozy series. It would be a good choice for public library acquisition, home use, or a buddy read.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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