If you love vintage theme small town cozies, you’ll love this author! A little racier than your typical cozy, but will do nicely on a fall evening curled up with a warm blanket. The characters are smart and the book is a fast read.

The Advice Column Murders
Oakwood Mystery, Book #3
Leslie Nagel
5 Stars


Synopsis:

What’s the couple next door really hiding? Vintage fashionista and amateur sleuth Charley Carpenter finds out in this engrossing cozy mystery from the USA Today bestselling author of The Book Club Murders.

In a small town like Oakwood, Ohio, everyone knows everyone else’s business—except for Charley Carpenter’s standoffish new neighbors, who tend to keep to themselves. But behind closed doors, Paxton Sharpe’s habit of screaming bloody murder at all hours of the day keeps Charley awake all night. Coupled with the stress of the increasingly delayed expansion of her shop, Old Hat Vintage Fashions, the insomnia is driving Charley crazy. Her only distraction? The local paper’s irreverent new advice column, “Ask Jackie.”

Jackie’s biting commentary usually leaves Charley and her employees rolling on the floor, but her latest column is no laughing matter. An oddly phrased query hinting at a child in peril immediately puts Charley on high alert. After arriving home to a bloodcurdling scream next door, she follows the noise into the basement and makes a grisly discovery: the body of Judith Sharpe’s adult daughter.

With Detective Marcus Trenault off in Chicago, Charley decides to take matters into her own hands. Convinced that the murder is connected to the desperate plea for help in “Ask Jackie,” she embarks on a twisted investigation that has her keeping up with the Sharpes—before a killer strikes again. (Goodreads)


Review:

The characters are well rounded and well developed. I enjoyed getting to spend time with Charley, her best friend Frankie and her detective boyfriend Marc. Charley is smart, hardworking and can get feisty at times. When there is a murder next door, Charley knows she has to do what she can to help find the killer. And she will not give up until she does just that. The secondary characters add a lot to the story and I really love the relationship between Charley and her dad.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. I felt that the writing style let me know the characters a little better through their actions and words. The author is very talented in creating suspense from just the written word. I found myself swiping pages as fast as I could to see what was going to happen next. This book is a little edgier than most cozies I read with a little more language but that did not bother me at all. I thought that the mystery was well paced and well developed. There were enough clue to sift through and suspects to consider and solving the mystery was not easy at all.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy. I have read all three books in this series and I have loved them all. I cannot wait for the next book.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Random House Publishing Group-Alibi, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate

Charley and her vintage fashions just get better. This book would stand alone just fine, but with this strong series, you might want to go back and read them in order.. Oakwood, Ohio is the perfect small town setting.

Well written, fun read with likable characters. This is at least the second in a series involving the main character, so a bit of time is devoted to recalling the reader to her other exploits. She's a young woman who has a talent for sleuthing and helps the police department solve murders. I don't feel compelled to read the others in the series based on this story...it was a little fluffy for my taste.

Oakwood Mysteries #3 just as great as #1, hate that I haven't gotten to #2! Charley Carpenter is the quite literally the "girl next door" in the latest book. She has a heart of gold and is always thinking about others to the point where she needs to be thinking about herself. Will she take her Dad's advice or maybe she should "ask Jackie". Although it didn't seem to go so well for the last person. This is a great set of characters and a very good message about looking out for the little guys, no matter how little they might be.

I was well into this book, and I thought it had promise and was willing to give this new-to-me author a chance. I liked her setting, and her premise was interesting. I was disappointed to find profanity (those who read my blog and newspaper column are asking for profanity-free cozies), but I managed to overlook that. And then I got to the flippant line "Christ on a raft." As someone who believes that Christ was on a cross, not a raft, that seriously crossed the line for me, and I turned my Kindle off and selected another book. I wish the author well, though, because her writing showed promise, it's just unfortunately not the sort of thing I'll be able to recommend.

Murder, intrigue, a secretive family, a decades old mystery, and a sassy advice columnist make up this fun and quirky novel. It starts by following Charley Carpenter, an insightful, yet emotionally closed off woman who seems to find trouble, even when she doesn’t mean too.

She gets caught up in the next-door neighbor’s drama when the oldest daughter comes home and tries to ask for her help. Unfortunately, the daughter is soon found dead and Charley is determined to find out why. As she looks further into the daughter’s life, she starts to realize that the family next door holds even more secrets, some even more sinister than murder.

The only thing I wish this story did was involve the advice column more. While it did hold a clue, I think that Charley could have put the pieces together without it, though a bit more slowly. Because the title implies that the advice column is integral, it does not get enough time in the novel. Especially since “Ask Jackie,” the advice columnist, has such sharp wit!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced copy to read. All opinions are my own.

I love "cozy" mysteries and this one was really well done. It was funny, suspenseful and just plain ol' good. I have recommended it to my librarians all over my area because I think it would be a favorite of lots of folks, all ages.

The Advice Column Murders by Leslie Nagel
Book #3: Oakwood Mystery Series
Source: Netgalley
My Rating: 4½/5 stars

Charley Carpenter’s neighborhood isn’t just a collection of houses where a bunch of strangers live. Charley Carpenter’s neighborhood is a community, a collection of people who look after one another, help one another, and generally like one another. And then the Sharpe family moved in.

Paxton Sharpe isn’t a nice man, his oldest son is rude, his stepdaughter is decidedly weird, his wife is somewhat pathetic, and the twins are just so sad. Despite every effort, Charley hasn’t been able to make any headway with the Sharpe family. She’s waved, said hello, tried to engage in conversation, but not a single Sharpe is having any of the friendliness. In fact, all the Sharpe’s seem to want to do is be miserable.

And misery loves company . . . .

As Charley soon discovers, the Sharpe’s are hiding all kinds of naughty and dangerous secrets, and those secrets result in two heinous murders. Of course, Charley is going to poke around and ask some questions. While she would normally be investigating the crimes with her boyfriend, the still luscious Marcus Trenault, Marcus is on the outs with his boss and has been banned from the case. The problems seem to keep piling on, and on more than one occasion, Charley comes face-to-face with a few wretched cops who are hell-bent on getting it all wrong. With the threat of imprisonment hanging over her head, the possibility of getting Marcus into serious trouble, and two murders to solve, Charley is up to her butt in drama yet again.

The Bottom Line: Holy cats!! This installment of the Oakwood Mysteries series took a turn toward the darker side and I LOVED IT!! This is by far the darkest of the first three books and I really got into this story. Charley has a hot mess of a family to deal with if she is going to unravel ALL the Sharpe family mysteries. The family is sad, angry, resentful, and steeped in crap that all finally blows up like a huge volcano and Charley is in the thick of the lava flow. What’s more, Charley’s personal life sees some HUGE changes in this read which creates even more of an emotional rollercoaster ride. There really is a great deal of business being dealt with in this installment and I feel like it is really setting up the next several installments in the series. That works for me! The longer this series goes on and the more developed the characters become, the more I am digging it!

This is the first book I've read by this author and really enjoyed it. Loved the characters and the premise. The mystery over the murder and the mystery about the delays on her shop renovation work well.

I received an advance reader copy from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

There's a lot going on in this plot. The advice column, the murders, the people hiding secrets. And there's a little romance too.
The Advice Column Murders is the 3rd in the Oakwood Mystery Series.
This is one that I think I would have liked better if I had read the previous installments. Each book however is written to be read as a stand alone book.
I enjoyed the characters. Charley is a 'big girl' that gets the job done when it's necessary. She doesn't wait around for anyone or any man to help her when she feels there is a more to whats going on and a murder to solve.
I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the first two and the future installments.
I received a complimentary copy.

Another delightful cozy mystery filled with suspense and plenty of twists and turns along the way. An amazing book to get lost in.

This is the third in the series and a really fascinating tale with a solid female lead and very supportive male plus a LARGE cast of characters, a few of whom are not quite thoroughly introduced. I've actually read each of the stories and really enjoy Ms Nagel's writing and plots, but the time between books was, for me, sufficient to fail to recall the characters' previous roles unless redescribed. This is one of those trick areas for an author who doesn't want to bore the regulars with detailed descriptions of each minor actor, but without at least a loose outline of who's who and his/her relationship with the others, it can be a bit hard to follow the action at first. Nonetheless, "Advice Column" stands well on its own as an independent story while watching the growing relationships within the town in the larger arc adds a bit of spice.

A number of fairly serious issues are tackled, all bearing on the intricacies of family relationships. Domestic abuse, incest, step- and half-siblings, and more make for a complicated and snarled plot. Unwinding such tangles is our heroine's strength. I am looking forward to the next in the series!

Charley Carpenter is looking forward to the completion of the work at her shop, but it seems that someone’s sabotaging the progress. And although she doesn’t realize it yet, the whole thing factors into the murder of Sarah, a young woman who has been visiting Charley’s neighbors.
Charley is known as a sleuth, and. Marc, her police detective boyfriend, has figured out that her insights often lead to the right answer. Unfortunately, this time, Marc is out of the loop on the case.
Nicely plotted story featuring the regular characters from this cozy Oakwood mystery series.

Charley Carpenter is unsettled because her boyfriend is out of town and her business is undergoing renovations but the worst is her insomnia which isn't helped by the new neighbors who are constantly yelling at the top of the voices. One of the neighbors reaches out to Charley apparently for help but their conversation is cut short and never continued because of murder. Was she also seeking help in the advice columns?

Charley feels a need to find justice for the young woman and doesn't believe that the good old boys in the sheriff's office are capable of doing that. Can she, or will she become the next victim because of their incompetence?

I like this series, the characters and the writing.

Charley Carpenter is a shop owner as well as an amateur sleuth. A neighbor is murdered while she has time on her hands as her shop is being renovated so of course she solves the murder.
Simple story & delightful characters. I only wish that I had read the first two books in the series before I read this one. This book can stand alone, but I would have liked more background on each of the characters.

We've all had that one neighbor. Or, if you're lucky enough to never have had that one neighbor, you've probably heard stories. The one who views your routine lawn maintenance as a challenge to step up his game. Or the one who pulls out the snow blower for an inch of snow at six o'clock on a Sunday morning. For Charley Carpenter, that one neighbor means a surly, self-righteous military surgeon and his skittish wife. The situation quickly goes from bad to worse when Charley finds the body of her neighbor's daughter only a few days after she bumped into Charley and awkwardly implied she might need help.

After stumbling upon the body, Charley swings into action. But her usual investigative skills are hampered by the absence of her boyfriend, Detective Marc Trenault. Determined to figure out who killed her neighbor's daughter, Charley doubles down--and soon finds herself looking into a double homicide.

There are many worthy and readable series in the cozy mystery genre. For me, this one stands out. There's a slight edge to the storytelling that amplified the action without kicking the book into a more grisly category. I also appreciate the wit and intelligence written in the characters--especially Charley and Marc. The sharp writing and smart plots make this series shine--and keep me turning pages!

Living in small town Oakwood, Charley Carpenter puts her curiosity and intelligence to the test in the 3rd Oakwood mystery. The renovations to her hat shop slowed by vandalism, she has time to become involved when there is a murder next door. Well-written, the mystery is fair, but I didn't guess the killer. Looking forward to reading the first two.

This is a great cozy mystery series ! The Advice Column murders is the third in series. I have enjoyed the entire series and highly recommend the series.
Thank you to the publisher for the ARC which does not influence my review.
i enjoyed this next in series as my favorite of the the three books. In this edition the protagonist Charley Carpenter is the owner of a vintage shop she calls Old Hat Vintage Fashions. Her shop which is now undergoing a major renovation. Fighting delays with her shop refurbishing as well as a lack of sleep, she has turned to a new column in the local paper called "Ask Jackie." The last column sounded serious, putting Charley on edge followed by a scream next door and the discovery of a body. The victim was someone Charley had just met the day before.
The investigation soon turns multi layered as our talented protagonist finds multiple clues and suspects. I enjoyed the well crafted investigation and was surprised at the ending. The supporting characters all add to the story. I love the addition of vintage fashions in this series. Its a wonderful setting,, a pleasing read and overall a 5 star rating for this next in series. I look forward to the next in series.

The Advice Column Murders by Leslie Negel is the 3rd book in the Oakwood Mystery series, and another great addition. I really enjoy this series. Charley is curious about her new neighbors. The father is always yelling at his family, and they are all unfriendly. When a letter appears in the advice column, asking about child neglect, she wonders if the writer is talking about the neighbors. When someone dies in the neighbors home, Charley plans on getting to the bottom of it, with the help of her boyfriend Detective Marcus Trenault. This book kept me reading page after page, and it had more twists and turns as we figured things out along with Charley. I strongly recommend this book and series.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.