This book isn’t bad, but there are some issues.

When I first started reading this book, I assumed it was a cozy mystery. Everything about it screams cozy: the plot summary, the title, the cover art, the setting. So I was surprised that it was shelved as a thriller on Goodreads. It isn’t that. It’s not completely a cozy, but it would have benefited from leaning more into that genre. Emphasis on likable and eccentric characters, a short and sweet plot, and a lighter tone would have been perfect. Or if it’s a thriller, it needed to be much more thrilling.

It darts from character to character very quickly, as well as from past to present. So you get the impression that it’s fast paced. Unfortunately, it also takes forever for anything substantial to happen. It’s jarring.

The author shows moments of being funny and smart, so I don’t doubt she will write great books in the future. I just don’t think this one got there.

Not really sure how to place this - it's a very light, relaxed, cosy mystery which kind of undermines the festival setting. The characters start off rather one dimensional but there is some improvement towards the end.

dnf @ 55%

Lewis Sinclair, a singer and guitarist is performing at a country festival called fall fest with his band the gentleman cowboys. The band fire their manager Archie who is later than found dead and lewis along with his band are the main suspects.

this had a slow start, the murder wasn’t revealed until 30% and I thought it would’ve been sooner as that’s what the book is about. I liked the setting, the narration was okay but there was a lot of characters to keep up with who was who and how everyone was related. I also struggled with staying engaged and interested with the story so unfortunately this book wasn’t for me and I didn’t finish it.

thank you NetGalley for the arc.

4.25
A true blue western cozy mystery through and through. Well rounded human characters, an interesting plot that was a bit stagnant at times out caught up to speed on the others.
Lewis was a very likeable character and the ending was well done.
Would love to pick up more by the author
Thank you to Netgalley, the Author and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun listen, but missing several important elements for a successful mystery. I was rooting for Lew and his charming cowboys, but continuing to introduce new characters meant I guessed the killer way too early (there were only so many people it could be).

Two stars for the unique setting (a country music festival) and interesting cast of characters.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for sharing the audiobook!

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

Quick read, I just didn't get into it as much as I expected. I didn't dislike it, it just didn't flow for me and I was not connecting to the characters at all. The narrator did ok.

An enjoyable listen. A relatively short audio book. Murder mystery set in a cowboy music festival, but a story line that stretches across the world and years. Fun, twists, music and villainy in equal measure. Thank you to CamCat Books and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

The setting and blurb attracted me to this book: I thought it was an original setting. I listened to the audiobook which I thought was narrated well. Enjoyable story.

Entertaining mystery with endearing characters in a fun music festival setting, but it becomes pretty unbelievable toward the end.

The story takes place at a U.S country music festival where Lewis Sinclair and the Gentlemen Cowboys are set to take the stage. Prior to the festival, Lewis' girlfriend breaks up with him for his manager, which leaves Lew devastated, but the show must go on. He then has to defend himself when he's accused of murdering his ex-manager.

I really liked that the narrator made the characters come to life and made the book more intriguing. But I did find it hard to keep track of where the characters are as the story goes from one character to another and it seems like it changes characters in one breath. There are also times throughout the book where the story goes into a characters past but there doesn't seem to be a distinction between the past and present which I found confusing in some parts.

I thought the book had a cute storyline and I liked that the different story lines all twisted through each other. However, I personally thought the murder was obvious but the story itself was still fun and I liked the concept and made for a fun read.

I would like to thank NetGalley and CamCat Publishing for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an open and honest review.

Preparation for my Beyonce country era :)

I loved the narrator so much! This was a quick, easy, and highly enjoyable read. Was it groundbreaking, no. Would I read more from the author, definitely. I won't say this was memorable (besides a few more hilarious or shocking details), but it is unique enough to stand out. At a couple of points, I bumped the speed of the audiobook up because I was so excited to get to the twists!

I thought this had a very interesting premise because I've most certainly never come across a murder mystery set in the country music business before, but unfortunately, I don't feel that it lived up to expectations. Parts of the story felt very rushed whereas others dragged on. There were far too many characters to keep track of, all of whom were flat, and although this might be an easier task in the paperback version, the narrator kept slipping in and out of character accents in the audiobook which made it even more difficult to remember who was who and how they were all related to each other. The murderer was obvious from day one which made the rest of the story feel inevitable. Although the overall plot was interesting, I found it difficult to stay engaged.

This was a very good story about Cowboys and music and life on the road it was intriguing and very informative there was some twists and turns so was surprising and it dealt with the many different aspects of being in the musical world and dealing with a producer who didn't have their best interest at heart I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a mystery and yet it deals with just old fashioned standards it was well written and the narrator was very good I would recommend it for anyone who would enjoy a western type mystery

This is the first book that I have listened to by this author and narrator. At the moment, it is a stand-alone cozy mystery book. I am not sure if the author has plans of writing more about this country music group in the future.

Let's start off with the narration. There were times when the narrator slipped in and out of a character's accent. There was even an instant where it seemed like he was using the wrong accent for a character. There wasn't much intonation in his voice. There was some, but it was extremely subtle.

The set up of the audiobook didn't have any denotations of chapters or any other types of breaks. So, it did make it a little disconcerting when they switched POV or even had a flashback.

As for the story itself, I loved it. The story centers around Lewis Sinclair (lead singer & guitarist) and his band The Gentlemen Cowboys. Lewis recently was dumped by his girlfriend Ann-Dee. The band is getting ready to go to a huge country music festival. While at the festival, their manager Archie is murdered in a very horrific way. The band members, including Lewis, are all suspects.

There was great world building in this story. I could picture the band up on stage performing. There was a sort-of walk-of-fame where different performers were asked to leave their handprints in cement. The story did have quite a few flashbacks that provided great information and clues as to what was going on.

The only thing is that the blurb about the book makes it feel like the storyline with the brooch was going to be extremely important. It was more of a side-story than a main feature. It was a good storyline though.

I would like to thank NetGalley and CamCat Publishing for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an open and honest review.

Lewis Sinclair is the leader of the "Gentlemen Cowboys" they are set to play on a big music festival, when his girlfriend dumps and his manager proposes to his, now, former girlfriend on stage! The next day his manager appears dead and of course he is one of the main suspects!

I received a reviewer's copy of the audiobook and I think that a lot of what I didn't like might related to the audiobook production. There are too many characters in the book and we get different POVs but the narrator is flat, so it's hard to follow who is the "you" he is referring to when a chapter starts. Talking about chapters, this production lacked any type of division between chapters, something like "Chapter X" that would help the listener understand the transitions from one view point to the next.

Regardless of audiobook issues, I would like to have gotten a bit more background on each character. We don't get enough about the band members and how they came friends. The brooch story only appears in the end of the book. I don't know it seems like this book is a bit rushed.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ok this was a surprise, a country music fest and a murder!! I did not expect this!

D.M.S. Fick did an amazing job of dancing between an extensive cast without losing their individuality. My heart sank for Lew being treated the way he had been and his ability to maintain his respectful gentlemen's way of being.

This was a fast paced cozy whodunit, easy to read, and .. IT HAS COYBOYS!!

an absolute must read.

This book was a cute, cozy type of mystery but different than I have read in the sense of the country music scene! All the characters were developed well and even had a bit of humor considering the topic of the book! The narration is also amazing and distinguishable between characters, which I appreciate. I would definitely recommend if you are a fan of cozy mysteries and want something a little unique!

I want to start by thanking NetGalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read this cozy audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

The teaser for the book is as follows: A missing brooch. A face set in cement. This is not your average music festival.

Lewis Sinclair, a stalwart and tender country musician, is about to take the stage with his band, the Gentlemen Cowboys, at the premier U.S. country music festival when his girl dumps him for the Cowboys’ shifty manager. When that same manager ends up at FallFest’s walk of fame with his handprints―and his head―in cement, Lew finds himself on the top ten most wanted list instead of the music charts.

With the help of his loyal Cowboys and the close-knit festival staff, Lew must clear his name before the killer gets away―or strikes again.


I consumed the audiobook version of this book. It was a quick listen at about 6.5 hours and I would describe it as “cozy” or “fluffy”. The story is as it says it is going to be and it’s a read that swiftly moves along.

That being said there are some issues. I knew nothing of this author nor looked them up beforehand. As I listened it created a strange feeling. The over use of adjectives comes off as trying too hard and had strange personifications such as “He layered insults and spite over and over onto itself like a malicious baclava.”

The prose came off as inauthentic and when I found out that the author was a female I understood why. The protagonist is a male and it was clear the author didn’t quite hit the nail on the head in writing from a different gendered perspective. Here you have a musician on the circuit with his band and you are throwing out recipe comparatives to illustrate how a person was behaving. That’s just one of many descriptions that just do not read well.

One other issue is that we know a death is going to take place from the book jacket but it doesn’t happen until 1/3 of the book has passed in a shorter novel. The set up had no bearing on the plot having some excerpts just hang without any resolution. I mention these things because it can make for some frustrating reading. Lastly, without giving spoilers, when you write subject matters in the real world, they need to make sense. Especially in crimes, things can move quickly where characters don’t have time to wax poetic about their lives.

Back to the positive, the characters are likable. They are developed enough for the type of book that it’s. So if you want a fluffy quick read of a book that is a little different, being about the country music scene, give it read

GoodReads review link
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6263433428

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for a honest review!

Okay so I loved almost everything about this book. The characters your suppose to like are very lovable and the not so great people are very hatable. The story is interested and kept me hooked all the way to the end. The only thing that didn’t sit well was the ending. I just feel like it was a little too predictable and there wasn’t any big twist. Other than the very end though, I would give this a 5 star but unfortunately that knocked it down to a 4 for me.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audio.

This was such an entertaining read. I enjoyed the characters and the music festival setting. Lewis Sinclair and his band mates were great and I enjoyed the secondary characters also. This was a good mix of music, mystery, murder, romance and friendship. This was a fun and easy read. I enjoyed it.