Statue of Limitations is the first in a new series. The story follows Athena, a recently divorced mother who has moved home to live with her big Greek family in Michigan. The family has a garden center and a Greek restaurant in Little Greece. The owner of the property the Little Greece business owners rent has decided to demolish the businesses and build a condominium. While working to stop the demolition, Athena is also investigating the recent death of the original owner of the property. Athena’s investigation into the death is to help Case, an (attractive) stranger who randomly showed up at the garden center claiming he is the rightful owner of a statue recently purchased by one of Athena’s relatives, before becoming entangled with the death.

Statue of Limitations is a cozy mystery with a large cast of characters with a lot of potential, and a busy, fast paced plot. I hope future books in the series will dive further into Athena’s family; I really enjoyed them and can imagine a lot of interesting issues arising as we get to know them more as individuals not merely “the big Greek family.” Athena is feeling overwhelmed by her family and unhappy they are indoctrinating her son into all things Greek. By the end of the book she is feeling more warmly toward them and the area.

Athena previously handled interviews for a major Chicago newspaper, yet she seemed very nervous about conducting interviews and relied heavily on Case, wanting him to ask the hard questions – hopefully in future books she’ll come into her own.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions in this review are honest and my own. #StatuteOfLimitations #cozymystery

A strong start to what looks to be a amazing new series! Full of family, hilarious well rounded characters, and a mystery that will have you guessing, this is a book that can be read again and again! I can’t wait to see what else the author thinks up for these characters!

Statue of Limitations is the debut of the A Goddess of Greene Street Mystery series set in the coastal town of Sequoia, Michigan and featuring blogger and garden center owner Athena Spencer. Having suffered through a nasty divorce Athena has moved back to town with her young son, Nicholas and is now sharing a home with her parents and sisters and working at the family garden center.

Athena's family don't know that she's the face behind the popular Greek blog they enjoy each morning so she often stays behind to write after the garden center closes at night. One evening thinking the loud crash outside is their neighborhood raccoon, Oscar, getting up to no good Athena is shocked to discover a man digging around the base of the statue that her Grandfather recently bought at an estate sale.

It appears the mysterious man is Pittsburgh native, Case Donnelly who claims that the statue was stolen from his family's museum and he's looking to find the certificate of authenticity and also wants Athena to come up with the receipt that the statue was bought legally. Athena knows that when wealthy town resident Grayson Talbot Sr died mysteriously in his bathtub, his son Grayson "aka Sonny" had an estate sale and her Grandfather purchased the statue from the sale.

Grayson Talbot Sr. is the same man who wanted to tear down the section of Sequoia dubbed "Little Greece" where Athena's family has lived and worked amongst their Greek friends their whole lives. Thinking that instead of the close knit community the town would be better served by a high rise condominium complex and expensive boutique shops. But at the last council meeting it seemed that Grayson had finally given in to the Greeks and was going to abandon his plan, even going so far as to draw up and sign an agreement. But, before the papers were filed the man was dead and the papers missing.

When Grayson's long time assistant Harry Pepper is found dead just a few weeks later at the Talbot home, and surveillance video shows Case running from the home he immediately becomes wanted for murder. With her gut telling her that Case is no killer, she hides him on her Grandfather's fishing boat, provides him with a disguise and teams up with him to save her community and find the person responsible for two deaths.

A fast paced plot with likable characters. A feel good family that transports you right into the center of Sequoia. I was a little apprehensive since it seemed the author was heading the way of the dreaded love triangle but it appears that may have been resolved...guess we'll have to stay tuned.

I received an advanced copy of Statue of Limitations from NetGalley via Kensington Publishing. While not required to write a review I am happy to offer my honest opinion.

I have loved the previous series by this author so I was very interested to read this book. I also had high expectations for it. I hate to say but it really fell short. I honestly can't believe this was written by the same person. There was a lot of talk about being Greek which added to the story. But, I found myself thinking over and over again how stupid the main character, Athena, is. I found most of the story line to be so unlikely and improbable that someone would really act that way. Athena contradicts herself many times. She protects a guy she just met who might be a murderer? who does that? As for the suspense, there is none. We know who did it right from the start, it is just a matter of unfolding everything. I really felt let down by the story that I had such hopes for.

Statue of Limitations by Kate Collins was an entertaining beginning to a new cozy series.

I enjoyed meeting Athena and her loud and boisterous Greek American family. Each family member is a unique individual. Ms. Collins took the time throughout the story to begin to develop each of characters. By the end of the book I felt like I had begun to know each one. Case Donnelly, however, is still somewhat of a mystery that I look forward to knowing better as the series continues.

A well crafted plot with just enough twists and red herrings to keep a reader turning the pages until the reveal. Oh, and the reveal was a doozy. I will be watching for the next one in this series.

Statue of Limitations is another HIT by Kate Collins. I love finding brand new cozy series to start and this one really hit the spot for me. I'm so excited to see how the rest of the series plays out!

** Full review to be posted by release **

Athena Spencer has left her ex-husband and the Big City returned to her crazy big Greek family with her son. While not pleased to be back home, she embraces her family life and works in their business.

While working late one night, Athena finds a man in their garden center looking at a statue her grandfather purchased. When the man is later sought in a murder, Athena trusts her instincts and helps the man hide out to beat their common enemy. Now they have to prove him innocent and save the Little Greece business community. An even bigger task when a local family has the police and government officials on their payroll.

This is a great start to a new series. It’s like My Big Fat Greek Wedding meets cozy mystery series. Can’t wait for the next installment.

Fantastic start for a new series, the Greek family garden is an interesting thread throughout the story I look forward to seeing where this goes.

Kate Collins unveils a new series set in Michigan. It has certain trademarks from her popular Flower Shoppe series: a determined heroine, hunky love interest, a noisy involved family, and plenty of action. Athena has returned to home town to regroup from a failed marriage. Her son is enveloped by her loving Greek family and she works at the family garden center. Her grandparents' livelihood and the Little Greek area is threatened by the town menace who wants to develop it. Only he conveniently dies and then Athena is harboring a murder suspect as they race to discover who really is behind all the trouble and deaths. A great new beginning for this new series.

I liked this book. It was entertaining. The story line was different than other books I've read. I felt like the focus was too much on them being greek but that's part of the story. The bad guy is known throughout the book so that's not a surprise. #StatueofLimitations #NetGalley

Loved this book! Very fun and entertaining. Fantastic start to a fun new series! Cannot wait to read more.