Cute cover but this is not a series you pick up in the middle like I did. Unfortunately, there was little mention of any background or interesting characteristics on the characters for the first several chapters to get me up to speed or at the very least interested in them. The murder happens but at that point, I'm like, who cares. I have lost all interest by then. DNF.

Awesome little cozy mystery. It had a solid mystery and a lot of laughs. Would highly Recommend. Thank you for the arc.

Broadcast 4 Murder

by J.C. Eaton

Get ready to solve several mysteries, laughing your way through the pages of J.C. Eaton’s Broadcast 4 Murder. Sophie (aka “Kiddo” to her boss, “Phee” to her mother, and “Hon” to her boyfriend Marshall) gets pulled into a murder investigation when her mother discovers a dead body at the Sun City West radio station as she prepares to broadcast a show about cozy mysteries. As soon as Sophie’s mother enters the scene, the reader can expect demands on Sophie to nose around, daily phone calls, and wacky shenanigans as the residents of this Arizona senior community interact. Streetman, her mom’s chiweenie, gets a delightful starring role.

The first murder is not the last, and other crimes are discovered in the process of the investigation. Lots of characters are implicated as possible suspects, but they don’t appear to fit all the requirements—motive, means, and opportunity. These crimes are a puzzle to local detectives as well as the private investigators Sophie works with. She is not a private investigator; she is an accountant. In this book, however, she is able to do some informal forensic accounting along with on the ground sleuthing to catch some crooks. Broadcast 4 Murder is funny, has a complicated plot, and will keep you turning pages while you just don’t want it to end.

I would like to extend my thanks to NetGalley 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: #7 in the Sophie Kimball Mystery Series, but you can enjoy this cozy mystery as a standalone. This husband/wife writing team does an excellent job of beginning the action simultaneously with providing pertinent details of the backstory. They never miss a beat.

Publication: October 27, 2020—Kensington Books

Memorable Lines:

“Someone misplaced an apostrophe on some boxes? That’s the trouble these days. Schools no longer teach the important things. They’re too busy with social skills and self-esteem building. How can anyone build self-esteem if they can’t write a decent sentence?”

“You don’t have to worry about social media. She doesn’t use it. She prefers yenta media. It’s faster and commands a larger audience.”

It played out during the entire week with more and more salient details every night. It was as if we had our own version of Telemundo, only instead of seasoned actors, we had greedy retirees.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. A great mystery and adorable animals loved it

Broadcast 4 Murder by J.C. Eaton is the seventh book in the cozy Sophie Kimball Mystery series. Each book of the series contains it’s own mystery that is solved by the end so the books can be read in any order or as a standalone if choosing to do so. However, those that read from the beginning will get all of the character development throughout the series.

In the beginning of this series readers were introduced to Sophie ‘Phee’ Kimball who had been living in Minnesota while her retired mother was living in her retirement community in Sun City West, Arizona. Sophie’s mother called her daughter frantic that there was a murderer on the loose and targeting her book club thinking her daughter who worked as a bookkeeper for the police department was as good as any detective.

After traveling to Arizona to help her mother Sophie decided it was time for a change and being close to her mother would help keep her out of the path of any more murderers. A friend of Sophie’s just happened to want to start up a private investigating business so a new job for Sophie quickly became available. Sophie’s plans of keeping her mother and their friends away from murder investigations has been derailed yet again when the ladies took a job at the local radio station to go on air to discuss cozy mysteries only to find a body in the closet and open yet another mystery for Sophie to help solve.

The Sophie Kimball Mystery series is another that I have followed from the beginning and always enjoyed coming back to. The main character in here is likable but the side characters of the retirees are absolutely hilarious. Along with the quirky fun we also have a cute little dog that I can’t resist being involved in the stories. And on top of it all the main character working for/with private investigators that are retired police officers themselves gives that connection to law enforcement that I enjoy. Definitely one I will keep coming back to as long as the books keep coming.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

The author treats us to not just one but two murder mysteries, a theft of store inventory, and all of their entanglements. All of the mysteries are well-written, have lots of red herrings thrown in, lots of viable suspects, and with many twists and turns mixed in that will lead up to 2 unexpected and entertaining arrests. The characters are well-written, full of personality and charm that makes them very relatable and lifelike. The characters have all grown and developed since book one and it's nice to see how some of the characters are only getting better.

I like that Phee and Marshall's relationship is still going strong, and that it doesn't get lost in the story but that it helps support the story. I think that since Phee is investigating the murders and the theft that takes place in the book that maybe Phee should become a licensed PI since she is doing the same type of work while being unlicensed. I am getting tired of how much time Harriet dotes on Streetman and the makes her own daughter take the backseat to the dog for her affections. I'm also getting tired of Harriet trying to get others to dote on Streetman like she does. I'm looking forward to reading book #8 to see what kind of antics the characters find themselves getting mixed up in.

I received an ARC of this book from Kensington Books through NetGally for my honest review.

Phee who works for a PI firm has her hands full with her mother Harriet and other members of Harriet's retirement community. Harriet's debut of her own radio show takes a rough turn when she finds a dead body and broadcasts it live. Phee is again pulled into her mother's crazy shenanigans. This series is only of my favorites. I love all of the quirky characters. This is an excellent addition, and I am already looking forward to the next book!

Streetman, the Chi-weenie (Chihuahua/Dachshund mix), is back. His person, Harriet, mother of the ever so patient, Phee, has been asked to host the Booked 4 Murder Mystery Hour live radio show, about murder mystery books, with her friend, Myrna, as co-host. What could possibly go wrong? Knowing her mother, Phee’s sure something will.

Sure enough, Harriet is in the middle of a lengthy introduction when Myrna’s voice can be heard screaming that someone has been murdered. Not sure if it’s part of the show or reality, Phee rushes to the station. It’s real. The program director was stabbed.

When a second murder takes place, there’s no controlling Harriet’s paranoia. There are only two things that will distract her—Streetman and garage sales. Thankfully, there have been some great bargains to be had at pop up sales, new merchandise, still in the box, at bargain prices. Also, Streetman has to have new outfits for the Christmas in July event. He is not a fan.

Phee works as an accountant for a private investigation firm. With more cases than the police department can keep up with, they’ve asked the firm for help with interviews. With more work than the investigators can keep up with, they’ve drafted Phee to help. Although Phee says she’s just an accountant, she quite likes the investigative work. And it keeps Harriet off her back.

This is book seven in the series. Harriet and friends provide non-stop entertainment as long as you’re not the one in charge of corralling them. They do tend to panic at the least little thing, like finding dead bodies and getting death threats. Phee and Marshall now have a solid relationship which is a pleasure to see. I enjoy reading about characters who are not under thirty, in a love triangle, and who ‘just have to know’ what happened. It’s part of Phee’s job, both by way of her employer and you know, because of Harriet and friends. Start with this book but be warned, you’ll want to go back to book one to find out how it all started.

Eaton also writes the Wine Trail mysteries (4).

This is a great addition to a wonderful series. Sophie (Phee) Kimble is one of my favorite protagonists, she's smart and uses common sense. This book is set in Arizona and this case involves Phee's mother Harriet and her book club. The book is laugh out loud funny and has characters with a larger than life personalities. There are certainly plenty of twists and turns to keep you entertained and as an added bonus, Streetman, Harriet's dog.

Sophie (Phee) Kimball’s mother Harriet is excited when she’s given the chance to host a weekly radio show of her book club’s Booked 4 Murder Mystery Hour on Arizona’s KSCW. The Sun City West star-to-be’s debut is spoiled, though, when she discovers, live on air, the body of the station’s programming director Howard Buell, in a closet—stabbed in the chest by a pair of sewing shears.

Harriet soon has Phee investigating Howard’s murder, along with the actual investigators at Williams Investigations, where Phee is the bookkeeper and not an detective.

When the murder inquiry centers on one suspect, things take an odd turn because, not only are the fingerprints on the murder weapon not hers, but they belong to a woman who died twenty years earlier…at ninety-seven years of age.

Perhaps because this is the seventh in a series, I found some of the characters hard to connect with. Phee seemed to do a lot of guessing (in fairness, maybe because she’s a bookkeeper and not an investigator). For me, the story seemed to take a lot of time to get to a conclusion.

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie

One thing I know when I open a new installment in this wacky series is that there will be a lot of laughs. The mystery will be interesting, and Streetman the Chiweenie will play a role in getting the bad guy. The characters will be larger than life, and almost everyone in town knows who Harriet Plunkett is. Anyone who doesn’t, will, after her radio debut in “Broadcast 4 Murder”!

Phee moved to Arizona from Mankato, Minnesota a couple years ago. Her mother, Harriet, has lived in Sun City West, a retirement community, for many years and is a member of various clubs, most notably the Booked 4 Murder book club. Since Phee moved to Arizona, Harriet seems to have a lot of dead bodies show up in her life. Dead as in murdered.

Phee works for Nate, a retired detective from the Mankato police department where they used to work. She is the bookkeeper for his private investigation agency. Marshall is a detective she worked with in Mankato who also now works for Nate. They have been an item for quite some time. Whenever Harriet tries to get Phee to help solve a murder, Marshall and Nate end up involved, often as consultants for the sheriff’s department.

Harriet and her friend, Myrna, are excited to fill a slot at the local hometown neighborhood radio station. Vernadeen, who hosts a sewing program one morning a week, will be out of town and while she is, Harriet and Myrna will be on the air and talk about – what else – mysteries! They are planning a series in which they can bring in women from their book club to talk about different types and aspects of mystery novels.

On the morning of the first radio program, Nate is meeting with people at a retail store that has a mysterious, undocumented loss of inventory; Marshall is looking for an estranged father who took his four-year-old from the child’s mother. They missed the drama of Harriet and Myrna’s first show, and what would become one of their next consultations at Williams Investigations. The first moments sounded fine, until Myrna cried out that there was a dead guy with scissors sticking out of his chest. Listeners, including Phee and the secretary, thought they were hearing a dramatized version of a novel – until silence was all they heard on the radio.

When Phee pulled up at the station, a sheriff’s posse member was already there and deputies called. Myrna and Harriet were okay, but the programming director was not. He was dead in the huge storage closet, having been stabbed with a very fancy pair of sewing scissors.

Nate’s company was called to consult on the case within hours. One of the more shocking pieces of evidence included fingerprints of a retired high school teacher, one who had died about twenty years earlier. When members of the Booked 4 Murder book club received threats, it becomes far too personal, and Harriet will give Phee no peace until she helps find the killer. Phee takes a deep breath and knows what is coming next – an early morning or two at the dog park with Harriet’s Chiweenie, Streetman, to visit with one of the women who knows much of the gossip around Sun City West.

The husband-and-wife team of J.C. Eaton gift us with funnier and more complex mysteries with each new one in the series! Included is laugh-out-loud humor as befitting ladies who rival Lucy and Ethel at the age of the Golden Girls. Many middle-aged women will appreciate Phee’s attempts to honor her mother while living her own life. They describe characters so well I can picture and hear them, but never could I predict the shenanigans they will get involved in each time.

Plot twists serve to bring in new suspects and unusual circumstances, including a second murder that doesn’t seem to have any connections to the first. I was not able to figure out all the connections and guilty parties and was as surprised as Phee and Marshall at who was involved in the murders. The end was satisfying, with loose ends tied up for the murders and other crimes being investigated. I highly recommend this novel, which can be read as a standalone, and the rest of the series!

Book seven in the Sophie Kimball series and I think these books just keep getting better and better. If you want to laugh out loud at some crazy antics that some seniors do and funny outrageous things they say then you will enjoy this series.

In this one Harriet, Phee’s mother, is excited because her and Myrna are going to get a chance to be on the radio doing a radio show about her Book 4 Murder book club. What happens when they get there is they end up broadcasting finding a dead body and at first Phee thought it was part of the show but then realized something was wrong and heads over to find out what is going on.

The programming director has been stabbed and left in the closet and of course Harriet thinks that Phee needs to get in on figuring out what happened, especially getting her boss Nate and boyfriend Marshall in on things. They are the actual investigators at Williams Investigations, while Phee is just he bookkeeper but her mother thinks she should do the investigating too. Phee is really good at it and that is probably because of her bookkeeping skills and being able to hone in on certain things.

There are a few suspects because not only did the deceased just break up with a lady, so woman scorned, but he was a gambler with a bit of debt. There is also another case that Nate is working on about some missing inventory that Phee is helping him with and so there are a few things going on in this one.

I really had a lot of fun with this one! Harriet and her book club friends always make me laugh. They always go a bit overboard and are overly dramatic and make me roll my eyes but at the same time laugh. I just love Streetman Harriet’s chiweenie who actually helps them find a clue!

I love all the characters! Sophie, Nate, Marshall, Harriet and all her friends! I think my only complaint is that Phee is starting to turn into her mother! She sometimes jumps to conclusions about a person because of a piece of information and she is so zoned into that person being the murderer that she doesn’t think about how it might not be that person! Other than that I really enjoyed this.

If you like your cozies funny then you need to try this series and I think you should start with book one, Booked 4 Murder!

I adore Phee and her mother and this series. I try never to miss a new book, and I am always delighted when I see the announcement that a new installment is coming. I am happy to recommend this series to readers who love cozies of any type. Even though Phee isn't a PI, and we certainly hope she never becomes one because she is wrong more often than not, she's a character who finds out more information than her boyfriend, boss, and the police combined. The craft and reading group is always a romp and an adventure and gives Phee's mother an ongoing role vital to the series. Broadcast 4 Murder is no exception in that Phee finds out info that is useful in a murder investigation with the help of her mother, Augusta, and the incredible Streetman. But… I couldn't get behind this story as easily or as much as I wanted.

Oddly enough, I felt that this book was not as well planned or executed as previous books. The investigation by the police, and even the PI firm, was almost non-existent other than what Phee and Augusta came up with doing internet searches. Or even Phee's mother and her dog, Streetman sticking their noses in where they don't belong. There were some laughs throughout the story; a few humorous scenes seemed a bit too forced. I liked the idea of live radio shows on various crafts such as sewing and so forth, and even the fishing show. But the idea of combining a murder talk show with a fishing show just does not work for more than a single laugh.

There are suspects, more out of the story more than in. The motive for any of the suspects is not strong, and some are downright flimsy at best. Phee jumps from one conclusion to another almost with the turn of the page and never really lands on the truth until the very end. Evidence is also lacking. However, all of this said, I still enjoy this series and recommend it to readers. Broadcast 4 Murder has a great ending that combines humor and relationships that cements Phee's future. Even though I did not enjoy this book in general, the PI and craft aspects are fun, entertaining, and make readers smile. I do still look forward to the next book in the series.

I will never turn down a visit to Sun City West and as expected this was jammed full of hijinks, gossip, rumors, snowbirds, and pre-dawn visits to the dog park. What was unexpected is that it's Phee herself who is leading quite a bit of the hijinks and taking a more active role in the investigation without her well-intentioned and eccentric mother pushing her along. While enjoyed seeing Phee taking a more active role she did jump to some conclusions that I just didn't quite follow and seemed to have pretty gaping holes. At one point Marshall states that she is definitely her mother's daughter and I couldn't help but agree!

The mystery is quite intriguing and I very much enjoyed the investigation even with some of Phee's jumping to conclusions at times. I also loved visiting with the characters - especially Augusta who seemed to have a bit more page time in this book. While this wasn't my favorite mystery in this series it was still lots of fun and was a delight to read.

If you enjoy a cozy mystery with quirky characters but also a solid mystery that doesn't trend towards silly then this is the perfect series for you!

Great read by a new author for me. The plot is well written and enticing to the reader. The author writes in a way that makes the reader feel like part of The story.

Broadcast 4 Murder by J.C. Eaton is hilariously funny with witty conversations and eccentric characters.

Who is the radio station killer? Will Phee be able to save Harriet and Streetman from the murderer?
Harriet and Myrna have been given an hour-long show on a local radio show. They plan to discuss mystery books as part of the Booked 4 Murder Book Club. OK, first, OMG! Who is crazy enough to give Harriet and her book club a live radio mic. Don't get me wrong, but this is going to turn into a comedy hour for sure.

So, anyway, on their first broadcast, they find a dead body in the supply closet. Yes, while they were live on the air. So, Phee heads over from her office and is one of the first on the scene. If you have read this series, you know how Harriet and her book club can't sleep when a killer is in the midst. Enter Harriet's daughter Phee our bookkeeping sleuth.

The Mysteries
The books in this series always have more than one mystery going. Sometimes these are connected, and sometimes they aren't. So, we have the murder of the station's programming director, the second murder of Bucky, a DJ; we have a huge product theft at a couple of regional home goods stores, plus a few other behind-the-scenes cases that Marshal and Nate are working on. You know they do run a private investigating company, right?

So, lots are going on. Phee and Marshal are living together now. Oh, and that is going really well. Augusta, the investigating office secretary, is full of her witty repartee. She is kind of like Rose on the Golden Girls with her stories.

Five Stars
I love this series. Phee and Harriet are so wonderfully thought out with these funny quirks. It makes me think that Sun City West could be a place for retirement. But I do like snow, so, maybe not. Phee was so close this time, but the correct culprits were arrested for the correct crimes in the end. At least we hope so. You honestly never know with Deputies Bowman and Ranston in charge. My rating for Broadcast 4 Murder by J.C. Eaton is five stars. I highly recommend this book for all cozy mystery fans out there.

Oh and don't let the cover throw you off as it did me. This isn't a #ChristmasRead or a #HolidayMystery.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Broadcast 4 Murder by J.C. Eaton.

Until the next time,
~Jen

If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out BaronessBookTrove.com.

Broadcast 4 Murder is a cozy mystery set in Arizona. Phee Kimball works for a detective agency along with her boyfriend. She becomes involved in solving a crime when her mother stumbles upon a dead body. Phee's mother Harriet has just started a cozy mystery show on a local radio station. Unfortunately, murders begin happening at the station on her first day of work.

I wanted to read this novel because I have enjoyed the previous Sophie Kimball mysteries that I've read. I am a dachshund person and love Harriet's dog, Streetman, a Chiweenie (dachshund-chihuahua mix) with lots of personality!

I really enjoy this series. It has a refreshing blend of mystery with some little wry humorous asides. This book has the same lively tone, and it was fun to read!

There is also a bit of a mystery from the past, since the scissors that stabbed the first victim previously belonged to a local teacher who died 20 years ago. I found that aspect of the mystery particularly intriguing.

This is a well paced mystery with several viable suspects. I enjoyed Phee's detective work, and already am looking forward to the next book in the series!

I recommend Broadcast 4 Murder - and the Sophie Kimball mystery series - for other fans of cozy mysteries.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

There is never a dull moment in Sun City West.

Phee’s mom Harriet landed herself a job at the local radio station. She and her friend, Myrna are going to host the Booked 4 Murder Mystery Hour. The other members of their book club will drop by as guests. Harriet and Myrna are so excited to talk about their favorite cozy mysteries on their first show. But just a Harriett is set to get started Myrna discovers a station’s programming director dead with a pair of Gingher sewing sheers stabbed deep in his chest. All the listeners hear is a bunch of screams. Phee takes off out of her office and rushes to the station afraid that her mother is injured or worse.

Seems the deceased Howard Buell has quite a few people that wanted him dead, including an ex-girlfriend, but it’s not her fingerprints on the murder weapon. Then Harriet finds another body. The police even start looking at her as a suspect, but they don’t have a good track record when it comes to catching killers without a little help. Again Wiliams Investigations is asked to assist with the case and that means Phee has permission to dig into the case and she may even get up close and personal with the killer.

This is the 7th book in this series and each book seems to top the last.

Sophie “Phee” Kimball is such a wonderful character. She is smart, savvy, patient, with common sense, and an intense curiosity to get to the right answer whether it means via her computer or doing the legwork necessary. Her relationship with Marshall is heartwarming. He supports her in every way including when she does a little sleuthing on her own. I love it when they work together too. Her boss Nate is impressed with her work and how she has grown into being much more than a bookkeeper. Then you have Harriet and her Booked 4 Murder Book Club. Those ladies are a hoot and a half. And of course, there is a chiweenie-chihuahua-dachshund named Streetman that can steal the whole show. These authors have created such terrific characters with depth. Lovable even when you are shaking your head at their antics and laughing out loud.

Readers are treated to not just one but two mysteries and all their entanglements. Well-plotted and well-written with so many twists and turns. It was such a pleasure to read and tag along with all these characters trying to solve the mystery before they did. I failed, but the ending was absolutely perfect.

Broadcast 4 Murder is a superb addition to this series. Fun characters and a captivating mystery. I was totally entertained and can’t wait for my next visit to Sun City West.

"Broadcast 4 Murder" the 7th instalment in the Sophie Kimball Mystery series by J.C. Eaton. I found myself engrossed in the story and reading it in almost one sitting. It was entertaining, full of twists and turns as well as a few surprises.

The mystery is interesting and well plotted, and I loved the characters which are well developed. There is plenty of humour, too with Harriet and Streetman her Chiweenie and the rest of her crew from the Sun City Retirement Community. There were two mysteries to solve and even with the red herrings Sophie is able to put the pieces together .

I highly recommend this series to all my cozy loving friends.

I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from Kensington Books and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Another great cozy read by and amazing husband and wife 💕 team!

I have read a couple of the books from this series and have just loved them!



The characters are quirky and fun loving and kind if steak your heart! It is easy to begin to love them all!

I always enjoy the covers in this series. The comical sprit speaks to what you'll find inside.

There's plenty of chuckles and mystery too that will keep you turning the pages.

This is a fun series with each book well written as a standalone that will intrigue you to check out the others.

I read book 5 also and loved it.

If you enjoy Cozy Mysteries check out this series!

I received a complimentary copy.