Dying to Read by Lorena McCourtney - REVIEWED

About the Book: (from Revell)

All she wanted was a paycheck. What she got was a murder.

Cate Kinkaid's life is . . . well, frankly it's floundering. Her social life, her career, her haircut--they're all a mess. Unemployed, she jumps at the chance to work for her PI uncle, even though she has no experience and no instincts. After all, she is just dabbling in the world of private investigating until she can find a "real" job.

All she has to do for her first assignment is determine that a particular woman lives at a particular address. Simple, right? But when she reaches the dark Victorian house, she runs into an hungry horde of gray-haired mystery readers and a dead body. This routine PI job is turning out to be anything but simple. Is Cate in over her head?

My Thoughts:

“I want to do that.  Whatever it takes.”  (p. 311)

Cate Kinkaid has a tenacity that draws me to her character.  Her perceived failures in life ultimately bring her to a place where she is doing something she loves working  with people she loves.  Isn’t that just like God?  Always working in our lives, in spite of our choices, and bringing us to a place that is tailor made for our talents and His purposes?  Well, in my opinion, that’s what happens to Cate in Lorena McCourtney’s  new novel, Dying to Read.

This is a cozy mystery that contains a cast of characters that have many quirks and quandaries.  Cate seems to take the lead in many blunders, but everyone in the story sort of stumbles onto and into situations that throw them a curve ball.  I think that’s what I admire about McCourtney’s writing – nothing contrived about the way her characters behave.  Whether they are a good guy or bad guy, they all behave in a believable manner – quirky though it may be.

Anyway, you will love, be annoyed by, despise, and cheer for the characters in this series!  Cate begins her journey just trying to locate a girl for her uncle.  A few dead bodies later, attempts are being made on Cate’s life!  And by the time you reach the end of the story, like Cate, you wonder if she will survive her chosen profession!

So buckle up for a crazy, unpredictable ride folks!  The Cate Kincaid Files promises to be a wonderful series!

About the Author:

Lorena McCourtney is the award-winning author of dozens of novels, including Invisible (which won the Daphne du Maurier Award from Romance Writers of America), In Plain Sight, On the Run, and Stranded. She resides in Oregon.