Mostly Murders

A podcast-style Book Review, Episode 8: For Old Time’s Sake

It is another lovely day in Emerald Cove. The water in the Gulf of Mexico is gleaming in the sunlight, and Chicago-based children’s librarian Chloe Jackson is standing behind the bar in the Sea Glass Saloon and wondering why one of the regulars is wearing an armadillo shell on his head.

Welcome to Mostlymurders, the bookstagram account where we look at fictional murders and ask ourselves a very important question: is this
worth reading? I am your host Mostly, and I am joined here by my good friend Book. Today we are taking a look at From Beer to Eternity, book 1 in the Chloe Jackson, Sea Glass Saloon Mystery series.

Mostly: Before her best friend Boone was deployed to Afghanistan, Chloe promised him that she would help his grandmother Vivi run her bar if something happened to him. Setting off for Emerald Cove, Chloe is expecting to meet a sweet, frail old lady eager to accept her. Instead, she finds an independent and stubborn woman who keeps her distance and doesn’t seem to want any help. But Chloe isn’t the one to back down on a promise, and when a body is found near the Sea Glass Saloon and Vivi becomes the main suspect, Chloe throws herself into investigating, determined to prove Vivi’s innocence.

Mostly: That is the premise for this cozy mystery. A woman bound by a promise to a dear friend who never made it back home from Afghanistan, and a grumpy grandmother who doesn’t want any interference.

Book: I feel a little bad for Chloe. Uprooting your life to help someone is one thing, but finding that the person you have sworn to take care of doesn’t actually want you around is something else!

Mostly: It does seem like a rather fruitless task! But if there is one thing I have learned from reading cozy mysteries, it’s that things usually work out in the end if you have good intentions and work hard on achieving your goals.

Book: Very profound, Mostly. What I’ve learned from cozy mysteries is that cops are either smoking hot and single or completely incompetent, all small towns have insanely talented bakers, sassy cats can somehow sniff out clues and adorable, abandoned dogs are just littering the streets, waiting to be adopted by women who happen to take a wrong turn on their way to their new life in a totally different city!

Mostly: Okay, I admit I’ve learned those things too, but I still think resilience and not giving up are important themes in a lot of cozy mysteries as well! But back to Chloe, what did you think of her, Book?

Book: Chloe is super fun! I love her commentary on the quirky locals, her awkward interactions with the charming and mysterious Rhett and her devotion to her late friend.

Mostly: I agree. Chloe is fun, sassy and determined, easy to root for and easy to relate to. I also really like that she is actually a children’s librarian, I always appreciate a bookish character in a mystery and they do say that dealing with drunks and children are similar in many ways.

Book: I wouldn’t know about kids, but dealing with drunks definitely requires someone determined!

Mostly: Absolutely! I can’t imagine being a bartender myself, all the people and noise and I wouldn’t know what to do if some drunk idiot started acting up.

Book: I’d say aim straight for his…

Mostly: And that is definitely all we have time for today! Thank you for listening!

Cozy mystery – Podcast-style book review