“Botched 4 Murder” by J.C. Eaton it's a solid four-star read that delivers an entertaining and engaging mystery. Eaton’s Writing style is engaging and flows smoothly, making it easy to get caught up in the story. The plot is well crafted, with twists and turns to keep readers guessing and invested in solving the murder. The characters are likable and relatable, and their interactions provide a good balance of humor and intrigue. The author’s attention to detail in describing the setting and atmosphere adds depth to the narrative. While some aspects of the story could have been further developed or explored, the overall mystery and the enjoyable dynamics between the characters make “Botched 4 Murder” a satisfying and entertaining read for fans of cozy mysteries.

Such a great book. Makes for a wonderful read. I can not wait to read more from this author. I love books like this.

Eaton's mystery series set in and around Arizona's Sun City retirement community is plenty of fun, with lots of crazy characters that find themselves mixed up in wacky situations that require all of Phee's wit and investigative skills to extract them from !

The fourth book in J.C. Eaton's Sophie Kimball Mystery series is Botched 4 Murder. Sophie once again gets pulled into the spectacle that is her mother's retirement community. A board member who wants to get rid of the community's golf courses and replace them eco-friendly parks is causing chaos and turns up dead. Not surprisingly this causes even more chaos in the community. This is a fun, light cozy mystery. I love the characters and can easily picture any of them in real life. The book is a wonderful escape and a good addition to the series.

Sophie (Phee) Kimball may only be the accountant for a detective agency in Sun City West, but thank to her mother and various other retiree residents there she is kept hopping and investigating.The proposed plan to change golf courses into eco-friendly parks has the community up in arms until the person pushing it is found dead. Madcap in tone, I found the humor excessive, but that's a personal preference. The mystery, however, is fair and well-plotted.

This writing duo sure know how to write a great cozy mystery! Sophie is loving her job and her new boyfriend when yet again her mother pulls her into some drama. At a big community meeting it is proposed to turn the golf course into a park of sorts. This makes lots of them mad which makes things get interesting when the main woman for it turns up murdered. Well despite her protests of wanting to investigate Sophie cannot help herself until she finds herself in danger. Well written mystery in an adorable town full of characters readers of all ages can enjoy. Perfect for fans of the genre. I really liked it so I give it 4/5 stars.

Sophie "Phee" Kimball is getting dragged into the drama again at her mom's Arizona retirement community. A new board member wants to get rid of two golf courses and replace them with eco-friendly parks, and some of the residents are pretty teed off about it. On top of that, her mother's book club friend Myrna is being pushed out of the bocce league. These seniors are serious about winning, and Myrna's dragging them down. She's so bad at bocce, in fact, that when a community member's dead body is discovered while Myrna's practicing for a tournament, she assumes it was one of her own errant balls that killed the woman.

But before Myrna can be tossed off the bocce court and into criminal court, the police find an arrow in the victim's neck. It looks like this was no accident--and Phee and her investigator boyfriend Marshall will have to team up to bounce a killer into the slammer.

The author has once again given us a mystery that is full of twists and turns, red herrings,and plenty of suspects that will keep you guessing about who the murderer is until the surprising conclusion. The characters are so well written that they almost feel like they could be real people that you could hang out with. The way the author describes the places and people you can picture what is going on in the story.

I like how even though Marshall wants Phee to stay out of the investigation for her own safety, he admits that she's able to get information that he isn't and that information can help solve the murder. I hope that Phee and Marshall's relationship will continue to grow and that maybe they will take the plunge and either move in together of get married since they seem perfect for each other. I don't have any dislikes for this book which doesn't happen very often. I can't wait to read Molded 4 Murder to see what Phee finds herself getting involved in.

I got an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Kensington Books for my honest opinion.

This is book 4 in the very funny Sophie Kimball Mystery series. You can read this as a stand alone but the background of the retirement community is a great read. Sophie gets involved with the residents of Sun City West Retirement Community when a new board member wants to turn one of the golf courses into a public park. When she is found dead the entire community is under suspicion. Sophie's boss gets hired to do a private investigation and this involves her even more. Funny and so spot on. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Sophie (Phee) Kimball returns in a fourth adventure through the wilds of retirement Arizona style.
I think I must be getting used to the craziness of Phee’s mother Harriet and friends in Sun City West because their antics didn’t drive me crazy like they usually do. In past books, I have skimmed through to find out who the murderer was. This time I read all the way through. Maybe this fourth book is just better than the others.
Sorrel is on the Sun City West recreation board and she wants to convert some of the golf courses to parks. This raises and uproar at the meeting. The next day Sorrel is discovered dead on the golf course. Williams Investigations is asked to help with the investigation and of course Harriet pressures Phee into working on the murder as well.
Phee gets into several dangerous situations and manages to solve not only Sorrel’s murder but also another local murder by bark scorpion.
The story is laugh out loud funny at times. I think you could pick up enough backstory without needing to read the other books in the series if this one interests you.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

There is never a dull moment at the Sun City West Retirement Community and Sophie “Phee” Kimball always get dawn into the fun and games by her mother, Harriet. This time a board member has the bright idea to turn to golf courses into eco-friendly parks. Most of the residents are up in arms. There is also a big bocce ball tournament coming up and one of the members of the Sun City West team is performing up to par and some member want her out. These two things collide when the board member is found dead and misthrown bocce ball is found nearby sending the group into quite a tizzy. When the police arrive they find the real cause of death, and they call it murder. It doesn’t take long before Phee and Marshall, her investigator boyfriend, are fully involved in the investigation. Marshall helping the police, Phee on every wild goose chase her mother sends her on.

This series just gets better and better. This time Phee is roped into a group made up of the women from her mother’s book club and a group of men who are dead set against board member, Sorrel Harlan’s plan to get rid of two golf courses. Together they make plans to attend the board meeting and to try to convince the board to vote “no”. When the woman is found dead the group continues to meet to be sure the golf courses stay intact and to “help” Phee catch the killer.

Harriet is a loving but very pushy woman. Phee has learned to just do as her mother asks to avoid confrontation and also because sometimes the chases do provide clues to move the case forward. It always cracks me up when Phee has to remind her mother and her friends that, yes, she does work for an investigation agency, but she is the BOOKKEEPER, not a detective. Eye-rolling is one of Phee’s great traits.

All the characters feel very real and Harriet reminds me a little bit of my own mom. The way the woman plans her life almost entirely around her Chiweenie dog, Streetman, is hilarious. I love the way the relationship is growing between Marshall and Phee. The man is a keeper, he puts up with all the things Phee does and her mother.

The plot was a twisty one. Plenty of suspects and red herrings. I was totally caught up in the story from start to finish.

Funny and entertaining. The entire series has been delightful. They are best read in order to get to really know these characters.

Another fun entry into the Sophie Kimball series! As Sophie and Marshall get closer, one of the members of the retirement community board is found dead! Was it an errant bocce ball thrown by one of mother's book club friends that caused her death or was someone specifically targeting her? Sophie quickly learns she may have been targeted because of her stance on the new park being proposed that may take up precious real estate on the current golf course community landscape. Is someone angry enough to kill over it? Readers will find the fun humor we've come to expect from Sophie, her mother and community friends intertwined amongst the pages of this murder mystery. Multiple mysteries arise in this story and readers will find themselves working to solve them and rooting for the good guys in the end. A fun, fast read to add to your shelves!

Princess Fuzzypants here: Phee is a fascinating character. Where the reader might expect her to be embroiled in madcap shenanigans with her mother’s friends at her senior community, the characters and the storyline has more meat on their bones. First of all, Phee is an accountant at a PI firm where her boyfriend is one of the investigators. She helps them as well as doing the books and they admire her abilities. She does not attempt to fling herself into dangerous situations although she does skirt them. She, and the rest of the troupe including the seniors are well balanced and realistic. It’s kind of refreshing since so often the retirement communities tend to be written as comic relief.
The locals are up in arms because one of the members of the ruling council wants to turn the golf courses in this golfing community into parkland. Needless to say concern about property values and quality of life threatens to tear the community apart.
It doesn’t work very well for the lady who brought the suggestion forward. She is found dead, shot by an arrow to the neck. Since her proposal was so hotly contested, there is no shortage of suspects. Phee’s mother and friends corral her into helping them find the killer and stop the transformation of their community.
There are lots of twists and turns and red herrings to keep the reader guessing. It makes for an entertaining read.
I give it four purrs and two paws up.

Botched 4 Murder is a cozy mystery set in Arizona. Phee (Sophie) Kimball is an accountant for a detective agency. When an aquaintance of her retired mother is killed by an arrow, Phee works to solve the mystery.

This is my first read in the Sophie Kimball Mystery series. I was intrigued by the Chiweenie (Dachshund - Chihuahua mix dog) on the cover. I had some catching up to do -- lots of new names and characters to learn -- but it was a fun read. I do think this book would work best read in order with the other books in the Sophie Kimball Mystery series. And for dog lovers -- I enjoyed the stories about Streetman, the dog, in the book and only wish there had been more of them!

The mystery was well plotted and it kept me guessing. I enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot. I did not guess the murderer before Sophie did.

I enjoyed the characters in this book, especially Sophie, Marshall (her detective boyfriend), Nate and Augusta from the detective agency, her mother, and her eccentric aunt. The authors did an exceptional job of creating lots of well defined characters.

The book also has some humor and light moments that were enjoyable. It was a fast read that moved quickly.

I recommend Botched 4 Murder for other fans of cozy mysteries. It would make a fun weekend read.

I enjoyed this book. I finished it quickly and it held my interest. It was a quick and fun read. I look forward to more books in this series.

Botched 4 Murder is the fourth book in the Sophie Kimball Mystery series. When we meet up again with Sophie, she’s being dragged into her mother’s retirement community drama again. There’s a proposal to get rid of two golf courses and replace them with eco-friendly parks, and many of the residents do not like that. And when a community member’s dead body is found with an arrow lodged in their neck, it’s up to Sophie to find the killer.

I’ve read every single book in the series so far, and I have to say that this one is a favorite! It was very engaging and fun. Never did I feel bored.

One of my favorite things about this series is the characters. I’ve grown quite fond of every resident of Sun City West. Everyone is just so lively and entertaining that I can’t get enough of them. They really do make every book enjoyable.

The mystery itself was SO good. It was fast-paced and well-plotted, and everything linked together perfectly.

Overall, if you liked the previous books in the series, then you’ll like this one too. I can’t wait for the next installment.

Botched 4 Murder

by J. C. Eaton

If you like your cozy mysteries with a heavy dose of humor, look no farther than J. C. Eaton’s Botched 4 Murder. Once more, Sophie, who works as an accountant for Williams Investigations, gets dragged into a Sun City West murder investigation by her mother, Harriet, who insists she use her connections to help solve a crime. The main thread is finding the murderer of Sorrel, an eco-activist who wants to change many of the community’s golf courses to neighborhood parks, a very unpopular cause with Harriet and many members of the community, mostly seniors and snowbirds, who are concerned about their privacy, their property values, and crime rates. Was Sorrel murdered because of her activism in this issue or were other factors at play?

This cozy mystery rapidly becomes and stays complicated with quite a number of threads. Sophie has trouble saying no, and she finds herself physically in danger. Her boss, Nate, and her boyfriend and coworker, Marshall, urge her to stay out of the investigation for her own safety, but they have to admit that she gets more information from her informal interviews than they do as private investigators. The whole book is peppered with humor, mainly centering around Harriet and the other seniors who tend to dramatize everything and oil the wheels of the rumor mill.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Mystery

Notes: #4 in the Sophie Kimball Mystery Series, but, due to the author’s efforts and the nature of the book, it works well as a standalone.

Publication: December 18, 2018—Kensington Books

Memorable Lines:

Thank goodness I was at the other end of a phone line because my eyes were rolling around in their sockets like balls on a roulette wheel.

“The venom went through that guy like prep medicine for a colonoscopy.”

“I already made plans. With my mother and her friends. Bagels ’N More. You’re more than welcome to join me.” “And what? Get interrogated because we haven’t solved Sorrel’s murder yet? No thanks. The Salem Witch Trials would’ve paled in comparison to what I imagine tonight’s conversation will be like.”

The retirement home where Sophie's Mother lives wants to close down some of their golf courses and convert them to eco parks. This is not popular with the residents.

During bocce ball practice Myrna's ball goes astray and Sorrel is found dead. Sorrel is the proposer of the eco park and there are limitless suspects. Sophie is bullied by her Mother into investigating.

It's a cosy mystery that doesn't take itself too seriously . Although its part of a series its not a problem reading it as a stand alone book.

Love this series! It's so much fun! 

Sophie "Phee" gets dragged into more drama with her mother and her friends at the retirement villa, Sun City West when Myrna thinks she killed someone with her bocce ball. Though there is a dead body the woman was killed with an arrow to the throat and not a bocce ball, it doesn't stop Myrna and or Phee's mother from getting her involved in things. 

The lady killed was trying to get their golf courses turned into parks and it doesn't set well with most of the community since they bought their houses to overlook a golf course not a park with kids and loud music, etc. It also seems that she could have been involved in some other things too that could have gotten her killed. As much as she wants to stay out of things as she is just a bookkeeper for a private investigation firm it seems her mother will not let that be and she gets dragged into it all anyway. 

I love all the characters in this series! Phee is a fun character and I love the guys she works with Nate and Marshall. Her mother would drive me crazy in real life but she is a lot of fun along with her mothers friends...lol. They are always over exaggerating things and it just makes me laugh. Something about some over the top, quirky fun seniors in a cozy that just makes it so much better. :) 

I highly recommend this to anyone who likes cozies!

I really enjoy this story. Botched 4 Murder by J.C. Eaton is the fourth book of the cozy Sophie Kimball Mystery series. Each book of the series has been a standalone book.
Sophie ‘Phee’ Kimball is a divorced and has recently relocated from Minnesota to the Phoenix area of Arizona. She is the daughter of Harriet Plunkett. Harriet, lives in a retirement community in Sun City West, Arizona with her Chiweenie dog, Streetman, and belongs to a book club named Booked 4 Murder.

Phee is a book keeper by trade and sleuth by necessity. She works for Williams Investigations and they are hired by the Sheriff’s Department to assist with this case.

Harriet calls Phee because a golfing buddy, Myrna Mittleson, believes she killed someone when one of her balls went off course and was found next to a body on a golf course. The deceased belongs to a group that wants to turn the golf courses into parks (sacrilegious in AZ unless they don’t pay for themselves).

I loved how Harriet thinks she’s God’s gift to sleuthing. I can see Phee rolling her eyes at many of the interactions. This is a fun and entertaining read.

I enjoyed the entire book. I could see the Booked 4 Murder book club inserting themselves to the investigation, the cautions being given for their safety, and the humor in it all.

This series has become one of my favorites as it is always a fun read written with humor and a good sleuth to enjoy . It is so fun to read a cozy placed in a retirement village of quirky charcters and fun escapades.

Thank you to Kensington Publishing and to Net Galley for the ARC for review. My opinions are my own.

Phee is our protagonist and she is in her 4th mystery set in Sun City Retirement Village as the murder of a local senior woman has occurred that shocks their community. The woman was a vocal advocate for getting rid of golf courses in exchange for eco-friendly parks. and was disliked. This proposal had a lot of enemies so suspects abound as the clues multiply and soon Phee is one the trail of a killer. She has extensive investigating within the retirement community as members of each club are under suspicion.

This has a great location setting, a fun cast of quirky characters. and is a well crafted story with a captivating sleuth that kept me guessing. I love the humor throughout and the smart fast paced writing. I always enjoy reading this series new releases from cover to cover and laughing throughout. I highly recommend this series .