Dollycas’s Thoughts

Mack’s holiday is not going to be happy until she ends the letter writer’s reign of terror and they are held responsible for the death of her employee Gary Gunderson. While she awaits the next letter and nurses her broken leg she and her fellow barstool detectives agree to look into another case where an innocent man may be serving time for a crime he didn’t commit. Can her unique gift of Synaesthesia help break the case wide open?

What I love about this series is the cast of characters the author has created. Everyone has Mack’s back. Her employees keep the bar running while she sleuths out killers. Her relationship with Detective Duncan Albright is in flux because of a case they worked together and the letter-writing criminal has forbidden her to be in contact with the police specifically Detective Albright but they still manage a few meetings. Undercover cop Mal is posing as her boyfriend to help her with both cases but they are clearly developing feelings for each other. The Capone Club, a group of patrons that love to solve mysteries work so well together even when this time a new person is added to the group. Every character is distinct and has a purpose in the story. Their unique talents are used in many ways. They are also very believable and you could find people like them in any Wisconsin bar. They may not all have a group like the one at Mack’s bar but gossip, crime, and current news can all be topics mused over with a shot and a beer.

The mysteries included in this story are gripping. I was really taken in by the Capone Club’s case because I could poke holes in the police investigation immediately. Investigating a crime that takes place during a Wisconsin blizzard is tough but anyone could see they jumped to several conclusions not supported by the evidence. Right alongside that case, Mack is working tirelessly to solve the case she is personally involved in so another one of her friends doesn’t end up dead. This case has unfolded over the course of the series so it is good to read the prior books in order to understand everything but the author does a great job of recapping the highlights in each new book.

Having the series set nearby is an absolute delight especially when my current place of residence is mentioned several times in the story due to the correctional facility just down the road. It is easy to imagine Mack there visiting one or more of the residents using her personal method of lie detection.

Shots in the Dark was a gripping story but only one mystery is solved by the final page. There are also some romantic issues up in the air and I am starting to support one cop over the other so I am very interested in what will happen next. I am thankful that the next book in this series is on my To-Be-Read shelf and I will be jumping into A Toast to Murder soon.

Shots in the Dark is a fantastic book! I couldn't put it down, and finished it in one day.

There are two mysteries in Shots in the Dark. The Capone Club is asked by a woman to prove that her brother did not kill his wife. The other mystery began in book #3, In The Drink. Mack is desperately trying to solve the Letter Writer's puzzles in time, before anyone else is killed because of her. She also wants to determine the identity of the Letter Writer.

The Letter Writer is taunting Mack to prove that she is a Super Sleuth, by solving different puzzles within a certain time limit. If she fails to solve a puzzle, someone close to her will be killed. She can't involve the police in this. In the previous book, two friends from her bar were killed as her punishment, and she is still reeling from it.

Mack Dalton is an engaging character, whom I enjoy reading about..Her synesthesia makes her unique among cozy mystery sleuths. The Capone Club members add a lot to the book also. The Letter Writer mystery ends in a cliffhanger, which left me eager to read book #5!