Murder In Hum Harbour: A Seaglass Mystery

Murder in Hum Harbor by Jayne E. Self is an intriguing mystery.
Jewelry crafter, Gailynn MacDonald is a fun character and I enjoyed reading about her life in Hum Harbor.
When not so loved resident Doc Campbell is found on his boat, dead, it sets off an investigation that opens a Pandora's box full of lies, deceit and hatred.

Gai can't help but believe Doc was murdered and she sets off to discover the truth.
Not everyone in the charming town of Hum Harbor appreciates Gai sticking her nose in their business, especially her brother Sam, who along with his wife, have suffered their own personal heartache at the hands of Doc.

When Gai begins asking too many questions, she puts herself in jeopardy, willing to risk everything too find peace for those who hurt.

The author wrote a well told tale filled with intrigue and mystery. I am looking forward to reading more by this extremely talented author.

I voluntarily read an ARC of this book provided by the publisher & NetGalley.

Engaging and entertaining cozy mystery. Small town to the extreme, so some of what occurs can be explained due to that issue. Sweet romance, marital problems, alcohol excesses, and more add to the plot. I look forward to reading the next one in this series. I was inspired to go seaglass searching.

What an incredibly audacious book - it is a mystery of mysteries. You have irritating (what people think Gai is with all her asking of questions and research she is doing to find the murderer), linear (the way the towns people think except for Gai), memorable (Doc was very memorable to everyone in town - mostly bad memories with many people left behind as suspects because of it - including Gai's own family), outgoing (Gai has an outgoing personality with her own business of making jewelry, working as a medical billing person and an amateur detective and most of all lover of all HOLY - GOD), will Gai be able to fight through the towns secrets to find out who killed her old boss? Will something happen with her and her old bosses replacement? ya'll this book is packed and I do mean packed full of nucks and cranys of information - like the town - the weather - the details are exquisite, so worth your time.

I really enjoyed this book and have to say that I was captured by it from the beginning to the end. I loved the writing style of Jayne Self and how her characters were very well developed but had humor as well. The story flowed well and didn't have any lulls for me.

Gailynn is a part-time receptionist at a medical office in town and a part-time jeweler where she makes her own glass pieces. When Doc decides to retire and sell his business, Geoff is the one that is buying it. Gailynn ends up finding Doc on his boat dead the morning after his retirement party. Gailynn knows that someone is behind Doc's murder and she is determined to find out who it was. Although Gailynn does some of her own detective work, there are wrongly accused people that are really tired of what Gailynn is doing and her accusing innocent people. Gailynn is just trying to help, but is she really helping?

When Gailynn finally convinces Geoff that there is something going on, she rooks him into helping her do some research at the office that Geoff now owns. When Gailynn and Geoff do uncover some important facts, they take their findings to the law enforcement and then go on their way of confronting who they think has a part in Doc's murder. How will everything end for Gailynn and Geoff? Will they be able to keep the relationship kindled that has sparked between then during all of this? You have to read this one to find out. A really great read that will keep you guessing to the end.

I was given this book by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting book in that it is set in Canada (the first cozy I've read set in Canada), it involves jewelry making (but that wasn't discussed much at all), and the murderer was not someone you would expect in a cozy mystery. I had my suspicions about who did it, but really didn't believe it could be that person because it just isn't done this way in cozies. The story went well, but I did fine Gailynn a little over-the-top. She discussed watching cop shows on TV as how she knew about solving crimes, but then went about doing things that even the most casual viewer of Law & Order would know would ruin an investigation. The men in the book, other than Geoff, were not very nice examples of men.

All in all, this was a good start to a series, and I would read more in it.