The Stationery Shop Mystery series by Vivian Conroy is slowly going downhill for me, but I keep hoping! I’ll try book four when it comes out, but if it doesn’t get better, I’ll be stopping since there are so many other cozy mystery series out there!

In The Glitter End, Conroy continues to write fantastic descriptions of the town, and while her characters are developed, there is so much room to get to know the Paper Posse more. We get a bit more action with all the dogs in the story, but Hazel is lost in this book and the way she’s treating her potential romantic partner is getting old.

And talking about romantic partners, Delta’s whole middle school attitude with her love interest really annoyed me. I found myself skimming those sections since it was basically her acting like a tween and not the strong protagonist she’s been in previous books.

The mystery itself was good with a few red herrings, but once you find out what one of the people did for a living, it was pretty easy to guess it was them. Although I thought it was a team effort, so that was a nice twist at the end.

If you’ve enjoyed the previous books in the Stationery Shop Mysteries, there’s a good chance you’ll like this one. But, if like me, you feel like they are missing the mark, you may want to get The Glitter End from the library to read before you decide to purchase your own copy. ( )

romance, small-business, small-town, ex-cop, amateur-sleuth, angst, crooks, investigation****

Romantic mystery or cozy mystery?
At the end of tourist season business is slow in Tundish, Montana, so Delta's business partner agrees to an exhibition by a miniaturist who turns out to be more than a bit unbalanced. Then a man is found dead and he has ties to the artist who is then arrested. Add in a possible scam artist wooing her grandmother. From then on it seems that the romance might be more important than their combined sleuthing efforts. Interesting read.
I requested and received a free temporary e-book copy from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. ( )