The sixth and final Allie Cobb mystery. Allie is ostensibly hanging up her magnifying glass, getting ready to become Mrs. Richardson and to continue her business as head of the Cobb Literary Agency. During a Fourth of July celebration, someone shoots a cop and Allie tries her hardest to solve the case before her wedding because she feels that she won’t enjoy it or her honeymoon if the case is not solved first. Then follows the usual questionable decisions and danger that Allie is known for when working on a case. All in all, a satisfying ending to the series and I look forward to what the author brings us next.

The mysterious shooting to death of an officer has Allie confused until she bumbled into clues that suggested her fiance might have been the target instead. Now, she was in a race against time trying to find the killer, for her wedding was two weeks away, and time was running out on her. The intrigue, and excitement levels, were great, and it was also an enjoyable and entertaining read.

A light cozy mystery about a book agent who takes on murder investigations "on request" or to help out a town-mate. This will be her sixth (and last?) case.

While at an Independence Day celebration, a deputy and librarian are drawing a ticket for the raffle's grand prize. There's a ticket fumble, and one suddenly bends down. A shot rings out, and the two figures tumble to the floor.

Wouldn't you consider both people to be a possible target? I would. Our amateur sleuth Allie, doesn't. Has she not watched any tv or movies? Maybe not. But she runs a (mystery) book agency. That makes it unforgivable in my estimation. To consider it briefly then dismiss it, understandable, but to not consider it immediately? No.

I have to mention the silly debate about police considering everyone a suspect (especially because it was an open-air shooting), until they are ruled out, which apparently is shockingly and perilously close to "guilty until proven innocent!" I'm just unclear on how our sleuth could start with, then narrow down a list of suspects otherwise.

Our sleuth makes other laughable choices (although not amusing in terms of the murder investigation), such as dismissing a suspect because his girlfriend remarks that sitting still for hours is bad for his arthritis. (Remember, it was a grand prize drawing, and very short.) Also, deciding not to put a witness in danger, then telling the possible killer who the witness was--along with mentioning she had all the evidence on her (personally) at the time. While the person is holding a gun. I'm not just doubting her crime-solving skills now, I'm questioning her sanity.

I read a lot of cozy mysteries, so I'm aware that the citizen crime solvers have varying levels of skill and training, however, this one is more of a dumb-luck detective than anything else. Although very nice, I'm sure. (Bless her heart!)

So, yes, it's a light read, and it's nice, in its way. However, you should dial your "need for realism" way back, to overlook the bumps in this road.

3/5 Stars
I hope there's time for a quick revision or two that will make the book more sleuth-worthy!

Thanks to Beyond the Page and NetGalley for the preview of this ebook; the review is voluntary.

#APartingShot #NetGalley #JCKenney
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A Parting Shot is the 6th book in the Allie Cobb Mystery series and it sounds like it might be the last book. This book focuses on Allie and Brent's wedding. During the Fourth of July picnic a local cop is shot. He was due to retire. Could it have to do with a past case? Allie is asked to help with sorting through clues and sifting through secrets. The wedding planning balanced the excitement of solving the case. Of course the wedding was a nice ending! The characters are likable and the mystery was good. This is the first book I have read in the series and the author did a good job of making it enjoyable as a stand alone book. #NetGalley #APartingShot #BeyondThePage

This is one of my favorite series so I'm very sad to have to say good bye to these characters.
It ends with a BANG and a gripping mystery that kept me turning pages and guessing.
The plot is well developed and gripping, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I hope there will be more as it was a well written and compelling series.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

First off, this is one of my favorite series and I don't want it to end with this one. Allie is a great sleuth but she has promised that she will stop investigating murders now that her wedding is right around the corner. So much for that promise when a killer strikes at the town's Fourth of July festivities. They get more than the usual fireworks when a local cop, on the verge of retirement, is shot dead. As he goes down he lands on Allie's husband to be and his dog. While the local police will do their very best find out who killed him, many want Allie to take on one more case. It's a challenge with only weeks to go before her wedding but she is up to the task.
The mystery kept me engaged from the start and the ending tied everything up nicely. I just hate saying goodbye to my literary friends.
My thanks to the publisher Beyond the Page and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is the 6th and final (maybe?) book in the Allie Cobb mystery series. Allie Cobb is a literary agent in Rushing Creek Indiana and is getting married in just a couple of weeks. She attends the annual 4th of July festivities with her family and fiancé Brent. Police Office Watson who is about to retire has an annual fundraiser and the prizes are given out right before the fireworks start. This year Brent has been asked to select the winners and just as he selects the grand prize he drops the ticket and a loud boom which has Office Watson falling on him and then Sammy Brent’s dog. Brent is stunned but Officer Watson has been shot to death. Who could of wanted the police officer dead? Brent is shook up and worried that he could have been killed as could Sammy. Everyone wants Allie to investigate and find the killer before her wedding. Allie had promised to hang up her sleuthing and “kickboxer crusader” but even Brent wants Allie to get to the bottom of this. As Allie is juggling getting ready for her wedding and finish up work items before her honeymoon can she also bring down a killer. The problem is this happened in the open in the city square with the majority of the town in attendance. Allie soon learns that Officer Watson was both loved and disliked but the suspects lists really begins to dwindle and her wedding date is approaching. This was a good mystery and kept me guessing who could have done this. I thought this was the final book but then there is a teaser at the end on their honeymoon.. could more come. I hope so as I really enjoy this series.

Princess Fuzzypants here: When an author decides before writing a book that it is to be the last adventure in a series, it gives them the opportunity to tie up loose end and provide a satisfying finish to a much loved series of stories. This book succeeds on both fronts.

Allie, the Kickboxing Crusader, was always a bit different than any cozy heroines. Not only does she have the investigatory skills that they all have but she has a not so secret weapon. She can take good care of herself. She is a force with which to be reckoned. It does not mean she does not get into some very hairy situations but she has proven that she can play with the big boys and win.

Only weeks before her wedding, her fiancé is standing next to the cop who is murdered at the Fourth of July celebrations. While she and. Ollie have had their run ins, she admired his devotion to the community in other ways than policing. Her former brother in law, who is chief of police, asks her unofficially to help solve the crime. No pressure. Just do it before the wedding.

As often happens, the more she digs, the more she learns about Ollie, both good and bad. She has a couple of prime suspects for his murder and is relentless in finding the evidence to convict. She is in for a shock when she confronts the killer and is told the real motive. In fact, in full Allie mode, she takes the villain down. It is a good story that will keep the reader entertained.

And yes, the wedding does go through. And yes, she does retire from amateur sleuthing. Or does she? While there is a resolution to the story, there is still that little glimmer that perhaps, sometime, there might be further adventures. I would not complain. Five purrs and two paws up.

A Parting Shot is the 6th Allie Cobb small-town cozy mystery by J. C. Kenney. Released 19th April 2022, it's 206 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats.

Although it's the 6th book in the series, this small-town cozy works perfectly well as a standalone. The author provides the necessary backstory without spoon feeding or info dumping all over readers. The characters are competently written and mostly believable with a protagonist who's a literary agent and a former professional kickboxer. The action moves along at a fast pace and never drags or meanders. There are some slightly rough spots with the dialogue in a couple of places, but it never detracted or yanked me out of the story. I liked the information the author provided about the publishing industry and marketing, as well as the author and series name-dropping recommendations throughout; I found it interesting.

The plot resolution was a little more linear than I'm used to, but all in all the denouement was satisfying and well written. The language is squeaky clean and there's no on-page blood or gore. I recommend it to fans of small-town cozies with amateur sleuths (plus cat, and fiancé with dog). It's a quick and satisfying read. I would recommend it to fans of amateur sleuth small town cozies. Definitely one for cozy binge readers who love having series at their fingertips.

There was one very minor "foul play" twist included in the epilogue which wasn't entirely cricket, but it will no-doubt thrill fans of the author and the series.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

"Never say never." These words were used in the book and I'm feeling free to quote them; I hate the idea that this might be Allie Cobb's last mystery. It was my favorite book in the series. I so enjoy the spunky sleuth and the supporting cast that join her in her Rushing Creek, Indiana, tales.

amateur-sleuth, law-enforcement, veterinarian, wedding, murder, murder-investigation, friendship, Indiana, literary-agent, small-business, small-town, family-business, family, dogs, pets, cozy-mystery, secrets*****

Although I came in at the end of the series, I never felt lost, but only plan to go back and binge from the beginning.
Allie is a literary agent/Kickboxing Crusader/known and revered amateur sleuth, and her fiancé Brent is a librarian. The retiring local cop is shot during the fireworks and falls on top of the librarian and his big dog. The dog has a broken leg, the librarian gets mildly concussed, and the cop gets dead. Everyone from family to the community want Allie to investigate even though law enforcement is grimly determined to do their very best for one of their own. Good sleuthing, fascinating characters, interesting plot twists and red herrings.
I requested and received a free e-book copy from Beyond the Page Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!

Allie Cobb is a literary agent running her family's agency in Rushing Creek, Southern Indiana, started by her father. Despite vowing that she will no longer get involved in murder investigations, she helps out when a retiring local copper is killed at the town’s Fourth of July celebrations.

My 3rd read in this delightful series, A Parting Shot was fascinating and intriguing. The author has created a great mystery that showcases small-town life in the fictional town of Rushing Creek. I enjoyed being in the pockets of Allie, attempting to solve the crime alongside her. This 6th book in the Allie Cobb Mystery series is fabulous, fast-paced, and fun. I definitely relished this stay in Rushing Creek and Allie's wedding. I'll be reading the other books I've missed as well as hoping the series might continue. Here's hoping I enjoy them as much as A Parting Shot.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Beyond the Page Publishing via NetGalley, and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

Kickboxing Crusader and Literary Agent Allie Cobb is getting married and has decided to stop sleuthing. However, when a local police officer is shot and killed, Allie decides she has to investigate one more case. Thinking the shooter has a connection to one of the officer's previous cases, Allie is beginning to think that there is another possibility that is much closer to her than she realizes in A Parting Shot (An Allie Cobb Mystery, #6) by J.C. Kenney.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Beyond the Page Publishing for a digital version of an Advanced Readers Copy of A Parting Shot by J.C. Kenney. I was beyond excited to read this book and give my honest review.

This particular cozy mystery is written extremely well and is a lot better than some of the others in this genre. I loved that there wasn't a lot of gore or violence. Sometimes, I just want a lighter mystery to read, and A Parting Shot fit that description for me. Such an engaging and fun read, I couldn't wait to see what would happen. I had no idea who the murderer was, but I didn't try too hard to figure it out because I just wanted to get lost in the story, which I did.

I hope A Parting Shot (An Allie Cobb Mystery, #6) by J.C. Kenney isn't the last book in the series as I would like to read many more. With that being said, I will go back and read the other books that came before this one. Five out of five stars.

I've enjoyed all of J.C. Kenney's Allie Cobb mysteries--she's is a kickass (literally!) amateur sleuth as well as a fun characters. Kenney creates a wonderful community down there in Brown County, Indiana--an area I know well. I love picturing the hills of southern Indiana as I read--he makes it easy to fall into the story. Allie's wedding was a great way to end this one, but I'm hoping she's not retired from sleuthing forever!

I received a copy of A Parting Shot through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

A Parting Shot by J.C. Kenney is the sixth mystery in the Allie Cobb Mystery series. In A Parting Shot, Allie Cobb, an amateur sleuth, finds herself investigating a murder that occurs at the towns Fourth of July festivities. The search for the killer twists and turns and Allie uncovers the clues until an unexpected and shocking solution is staring her in the face.

This is the first mystery in the Allie Cobb series that I have read, but after reading this I look forward to going back and starting the series from the beginning. I enjoyed the characters and the Indiana small town setting. The mystery kept me guessing from the very beginning and I was surprised by the resolution. I’m this was a great mystery that didn’t give you the obvious killer and motive. I really enjoyed this mystery and am sad that this could be the last one in the series. I enjoyed getting to know Allie and am excited to read this series from the start. I would definitely recommend this book to cozy mystery fans!

A Reconsideration…
The eighth Allie Cobb mystery finds our intrepid kickboxing amateur sleuth looking to hang up her sleuthing hat for the last time as she prepares for her wedding. A local shooting makes her quickly reconsider her stance. The more Allie digs the worse the situation becomes but there are plenty of locals to encourage her on. An entertaining instalment in this series with a fun and colourful cast, a delightful backdrop and a well crafted plotline.

Allie decides to stop sleuthing now that she's getting married, however, the tragic murder of a local law enforcement officer quickly changed her mind.
This is not a bad series, but unfortunately I can't connect with the characters. I would still recommend it to others, but its just not for me.
#APartingShot #NetGalley

As she prepares to walk down the aisle, Allie decides it’s time to hang up her amateur sleuthing for good. Then when a local cop is murdered right before he retires, she has to overturn her decision and put her southing skills back on the case.

Certain that the murder is tied to one of his old cases, Allie finds a lot of people who might have wanted to take the cop out. Now she’s got to dig into some shady people and hope she can solve the case so that the minister is officiating over her wedding and not her funeral.

I’m sad to see this series go, but it certainly ended with a great finish. Even if you consider yourself a cozy fan and think you can figure it all out before the end, you’re going to have a few surprises in this last visit with Allie!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Beyond the Page Publishing and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.


A lot of story packed into one novel. The eighth Allie Cobb didn’t disappoint.