Death with a Dark Red Rose has an excellent suspense opening, with the disappearance of Lena's friend Belinda. She is quickly found at her brother's place, Carl is off his meds and refused to let her bring her purse or cell phone with her. The reason he stopped taking his meds is because his coworker and friend, Luis, has gone missing. Luis' wife, Elena, hasn't reported him missing because they got into a fight and their employer, Plasti-Source, doesn't seem to care.

Plasti-Source is odd from the get-go. Lena and friends are not happy about this new plant being built on Blue Lake, but there's no way they couldn't have heard of it before construction started. They are also disturbed by the number of environmental complaints and fines against the company (which again, the town council and mayor should've caught, but they are completely absent from this story). It's never mentioned really why Blue Lake, and if it's supposed to bring more employment/development to the area, or what. It doesn't make sense because of gaps in the story.

The mystery of the book is where is Luis and what has happened to him? Why would anything happen to this everyday IT guy? In the meantime, Camilla and Lena are writing their book and Camilla's also working on a book of writing. The chapter headers tie into both the fiction and non-fiction work and it gets a bit heavy handed with the writing advice and then events happening in the book because it's time for the pendulum to swing.

The book has a great start, a mostly ho-hum middle, and intense ending. The suspense is often lacking or resolved quickly. It is one of the weaker installments in the series so far, though readers of the series will enjoy catching up with the characters.

Author Julia Buckley expertly sets the stage for murder with suspicions of environmental conspiracy in the fifth story of the Writer’s Apprentice Mystery series. I halfway expected Erin Brockovich to appear and give the adversaries what for! The plot is immediately immersing when Lena London’s good friend Detective Doug Heller’s girlfriend, Belinda, disappears. From there, it’s a nail-biting merry-go-round as Lena and her fiancé, Sam, and Camilla Graham and her other half, Adam, join forces to solve a missing person’s case of a man who worked for a polymer materials manufacturer, Plasti-Source which has been accused of releasing toxic chemicals into the local community of lovely Blue Lake, Indiana.

As the suspenseful mystery builds to a dire climax; Lena and Sam search for precious moments to plan their upcoming wedding. The ending scenes are tense as the conspiracy unfolds and the main characters’ lives are in grave danger. My heart was thumping right along with how theirs must have pumping! Brava to the author for maintaining a tight grip on the storyline!

Fast-paced, great characters, humor, a plethora of pets, smart people, and plenty of action combine to make this cozy Mystery a 5 Star read!

I honestly reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Berkley Publishers. Thank you.

Writer's apprentice, Lena London is loving life. She is newly engaged to the handsome and charming Sam West, has a great job working closely with suspense author Camilla Graham on their next novel, and has plenty of friends in the town she lives in, Blue Lake. The only minor source of irritation is when a new corporation, one that is rumored to be inept at proper waste disposal moves into town. Plastisource threatens to disrupt the harmony of the small town of Blue Lake. When Lena and Sam receive a phone call from local detective and friend Doug, who is worried that his girlfriend is not answering her phone, they immediately set out to investigate. Clues are sparse, just Belinda's phone and purse are found at her house, along with a single red rose left on the counter. Lena grows worried when she learns Belinda has missed a date with Doug and is determined to uncover the reason behind Belinda's sudden disappearance.
It is always a delight to travel back to Blue Lake and visit again with the quirky inhabitants of this charming small town. The dynamics between the main characters is fun and refreshing and adds a level of humor to an otherwise dark plot. The mystery moved along quickly and was well plotted. There was a bit of repetition throughout that may prove helpful to those needing a refresher on previous plot points or those new to the series. Overall I enjoyed this newest mystery in the writer's apprentice series and look forward to more adventures featuring Lena and Sam.

There is nothing better than curling up on a snowy day with a new book by Julia Buckley.

In Death with a Dark Red Rose, Lena London is beginning to settle into her life. She has a wonderful job working with talented author Camilla Graham, she's engaged to the handsome Sam West, and she has several close friends who she enjoys spending time with.
It isn't until one of her best friends has disappeared and a strange new company plans on settling in her adopted town.
When Plastisource begins scouting the area for available land, residents become concerned over the rumors that the company doesn't dispose of their waste correctly.
Before long, Lena and Sam become involved in a whirlwind investigation, putting them all in danger.

I enjoy how the author brings each of her characters to life, coloring their personalities with different quirks, sending the reader right into the story.
I highly recommend this book to any reader.

I simply could not get into this cozy mystery. Lena is a writer's apprentice, working for mystery writer Camille. Many, many characters and subplots. If you have not read the earlier books in this series, many of these characters will remain a puzzle. The author also seems determined to bring us up to speed on each character and these events probably were in earlier novels.

I love this series. So much so, I read this as soon as I got my eARC. The characters are interesting and I always look forward to what will happen next in their lives.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't enjoy this book at all. It's the 5th in a series and if you have not read the first ones then this one isn't going to be easy to follow. It's a little juvenile and I just got bored with it. I did like the characters and the names but just couldn't get into it.

I enjoyed this cozy mystery. The characters were likable and the mystery fairly interesting with some good twists and turns. My biggest issue was that there was A LOT exposition. This was the first book of this series I read, but even a first time reader doesn't need to be spoon-fed all the past details and histories of the characters which was often repeated again every time something which touched on a past story came up again. The clues and 'progress' were also often repeated as well. These things hampered my enjoyment of reading the mystery.

Each book in this series is better than the last, and this one was terrific.
Lena is still living and writing with famous author Carmella Graham, engaged to Sam, and extremely happy. Life is good, until they find out a new plastics factory wants to manufacture in Blue Lake and they and all their many friends are concerned, especially when a factory worker goes missing. Something about the factory seems to be off, and things go from bad to worse. Of course a huge mystery is involved, as well as happy times for the gang at Blue Lake. Great plot, lots of good surprises, and a very interesting mystery.

Perhaps I would have enjoyed this if I had read the author's first book. Obviously I missed a lot of the back story of all the characters which plays into the interactions between them in solving the mystery. The premise seemed over the top.