Getaway With Murder is a light and fun read. I really enjoyed it and found it very entertaining. The main characters were perfect for the story line. Misty Murphy, new owner of the lodge, Patty, the owner of The Greasy Griddle, Rocky Crowder, a handyman and Lodge's maintenance man and Brynn O'Reilly hired as her housekeeper and manager. The supporting characters add the little extra to round out the story. Misty has just bought a mountain lodge called Riverview Inn that she had fond memories of when she was a child. She finds that the lodge has some major damage and needs repair.. Across the street is a diner called The Greasy Griddle owned by a woman named Patty. In the diner she meets a handy man named Rocky Crowder who she gets to work on her lodge. She hires a woman named Bryn O'Reilly to work along side of her. After the repairs the lodge whose new name is Mountaintop Lodge is ready for guests. After advertising she gets her first guests who are looking for a retreat a yoga and meditation company called Third Eye Studio and Spa, They arrive by bus and this is where the story gets interesting. When Sasha Ducharme-Carlisle, the owner of the company is murdered it is up to Misty and her friends to find out who murdered her and why. The reader is left guessing until the end of the story.

The next group who rent the lodge are a ladies motorcycle club called the Dangerous Curves. They plan to come to the mountains to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway and other scenic routes.

I look forward to enjoying more of this story as a series and to see what Misty and her friends get into. Also where the relationship between Misty and Rocky goes.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC

What happens when you turn 50 and just got divorced? If you’re Misty Murphy you move to the Appalachian Mountains and buy a guest lodge. With her boys in college, Misty goes to the one place that really calls to her, the mountains and buys the old lodge that she has stayed at with her parents as a child and her family as a mother. The place seems to be the right fit for her, but she’ll have to do her best to save the lodge from going under.

With a plan to target groups to rent the lodge for outings and vacations to attract business. Her first group is a yoga group who were desperate for a new location after a first destroyed their first lodgings. Now with the lodge full, Misty is getting down to business. But when the yoga instructor is murdered, it looks like the murderer may have just killed Misty’s business too. UNLESS she can figure out who killed the woman and why. With a new staff and new friends, Misty isn’t quite sure who she can trust, but she does trust her instincts and that’s the way she’s going to go with it.

A great first entry in a new cozy series that had me right out of the gate. I am looking forward to many more entries with this series and time spent in the Appalachian Mountains.

Diane Kelly hooks us with this first book in the series! She develops an enticing, verdant wilderness setting, establishes relatable main characters at a mountain lodge, and then creates an intriguing mystery with plenty of viable suspects to keep the reader guessing to the very end.
You can't help but root for the main character Misty, who is on her own for the first time in a long time after her divorce and running a lodge in the mountains. The typical divorced person trope found in cozy mysteries is refreshingly turned on its head, as both Misty and the handyman she hires, Rocky, ended their marriages amicably, not bitterly.
While the descriptions of the setting make the area come alive, I did find the frequent analysis of the subjects to be a bit repetitive in their details. However, overall this is an entertaining page-turner of a book. I look forward to future instalments in the series.

This was a cute typical cozy, with your recently divorced but plucky 50yo protagonist, a ruggedly handsome handy man who spouts philosophy, a beautiful fluffy white princess kitty (Yeti, I loved this name), and a slow moving mountain dog (appropriately named Molasses), long with the slightly off kilter assistant (shes Wiccan of course!) smudging sage about the lodge. Enter the yoga retreater's come to the mountains for some fresh air....and apparently murder!

I particularly enjoyed the Appalachian/Mountain Lodge setting. The pacing was a little slow for me, there is a lot of moving around, opening doors, eating, drinking, etc. which I know is typical to the genre but I tend to love the ones more who don't get so weighed down by this. I think all the banal commentary contributes to the mystery itself not being as mysterious (in spite of the surplus of suspects) as it could be. The couple interludes with Yeti were entertaining but not necessarily revealing in terms of the mystery (that was a missed opportunity I would have like to have seen). That being said I still read it pretty quick, and it was fun and entertaining with its cozy vibes. I did like the banter between Misty and Rocky, and along with the setting I think there's definite potential in this series, I will pick up the next one and see what our biker chicks bring to the lodge in lieu of the Yogis.

Recommend for fans of the genre but not necessarily to crossover readers.

Mini Review: I thought this was a good beginning to a new cozy mystery series! I liked the location and descriptions of it. I think a lodge has excellent potential for cozy series. Overall, I would definitely recommend trying it!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley # netgalley

Such a great cozy. Amazing setting and characters. I wish I could live there.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading subsequent books in the series.

The location is excellent and I really like the main characters. My favourite part is that the cat, Yeti, gets her own short chapters.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you, St. Martin's Press!

Getaway with Murder by Diane Kelly.
I have been looking forward to this book since I read a few chapters in Cozy Case Files Volume 13 and I am not disappointed in this opener for a new series by a cozy author with a goodly number of books to her credit. Her previous books often feature dogs and cats. Her House Flipper series has alternating chapters using the POV of the main character and her cat, as in this book.
This series is set in a mountain lodge off the Appalachian Trail. The ambiance is charming and the characters are appealing. The main character has just turned fifty and her philosophy is “growing old had it’s downsides, but it sure beats the alternative.”
It had some moments of being laugh out loud funny. The only thing I found displeasing was that the solution to the crime was a bit sad. But I’m still looking forward to the next installment in the series.
Thanks to Netgalley for this excellent early read.

I enjoyed this book. It's fast paced with great characters. It's an interesting story. I was definitely surprised by who the killer was. #GetawayWithMurder #NetGalley

Getaway with Murder was a delightful read I especially enjoyed as I am from Western North Carolina.. The main characters in this new series are diverse and interesting but the chapters narrated/described by Yeti the cat did not enhance the book. The books shows promise of a new and entertaining regional mystery series.