A Shot of Murder

Thank you NetGalley, Brenda Gayle and Backlit PR for the copy of A Shot of Murder. This is my personal review.
Charley Hall is a reporter for the Kingston Tribune. She is one day demoted from her city reporter writer to writing for the woman’s section of the paper because her position was given to a returning soldier.
Her Gran has decided to have a surprise birthday party for Charley’s brother Freddie. But when Freddie cannot be found Charley decides she had better go and look for him. While looking for Freddie Charley discovers a dead woman’s body. The last person seen with the woman was Freddie.
A detective from is now looking into the murder --- the person he is looking at as a suspect is Freddie. A newspaper was found by the body. The newspaper article is the piece of evidence the detective is using to form his case. This is what stirs up Charley and she is out to find the real killer.
I enjoyed this book and look forward to more in the series A Charley Hall Mystery. Brenda Gayle makes the story by giving us Charley who will get to the bottom of any mystery.

Thank you NetGalley, Brenda Gayle letting me read A Shot of Murder.
Charley Hall is a reporter for the Kingston Tribune who's brother Freddie has gone missing. Charley decides to go looking for Freddie. Instead of finding Freedie, she finds a dead body, who turns out to be the last person seen with Freddie. How will she find him now? I really enjoyed reading this book and look forward to the rest of the series.

Charley Hall Mysteries are a great new edition to the cozy mystery genre. Charlie Hall is a female reporter working at the Kingston Tribune in the late 1940s. When the war ends, she’s required to give up her position at the paper to a man and is then relegated to working the women’s society section. Disappointed, independent and astute Charley finds herself struggling with the social mores of the time. Little does she know that she’ll soon be putting her investigative skills to good use once again. This time, to solve a murder that hits a little close to home. The characters are well fleshed out and unique and the unfolding of the story line is exciting.

A Shot of Murder by Brenda Gayle is the first book in what is to become A Charley Hall Mystery series.

Charley is a young woman, a widow, a journalist who has just lost her position as a city beat writer to a returning soldier. It is after the WWII and the things are slowly starting to get back to normal.
What is not normal is that her brother is missing, he had become a recluse and an alcoholic after coming back from the POW camp.
His birthday is approaching and their grandmother is organizing a party for him, and Charley doesn't won't to worry grandmother so she pretends that all is well at home, while frantically searching the city at night for her brother to bring him home.
When she stumbles over a dead body while looking for the brother, she realizes that things are more serious than she wanted to believe.
Soon she will find unrequested help from a visiting policeman who seems to be hiding secrets himself.

A short and absorbing read. neatly packaged and fast paced,
First impression is of a regular cozy mystery but reading further is touches on some very serious issues.
I liked the heroine, she is smart, resourceful and brave. She is also loyal and caring.
The main male protagonist is somewhat of a rouge, intelligent and solid, dependable and nice, yet he has secrets that just wait to be discovered.
There is also a possible romance factor possible between two men so it will be interesting to see which one the lady chooses.
Mystery was well presented and clues openly given to all to follow and make their own deductions.
Overall a good start to the series, the story is quite shorter than usual mysteries which I must say that I quite like, and it packs a punch.
Looking forward to the next installment to see what happens.

I think this could be the first novel in a great new cozy, murder mystery series. Charley is highly relatable and one can't help but feel for her being pushed aside for a man returning from the war, even though she's done a great job.

The murder mystery is a little different and had me intrigued. I reached the correct conclusions at times, but not so much at other times.

Where will the story go with Dan and Jack. I guess we'll have to wait to find out in the next instalment.

With thanks to Backlit PR, the author and #Netgalley for my advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

With thanks to Netgalley and Back-lit PR for the ARC.
Description
In 1948, Charley Hall resents giving up her job as city reporter for the Kingston Tribune to a returning soldier. But her demotion to the women’s pages is the least of her worries since Gran is organizing a surprise birthday party for Charley’s older brother, Freddie. Trouble is, Freddie hasn’t come back from his latest bender. When Charley goes looking for him, she discovers the dead body of a woman, last seen with her brother. Beside the murdered woman is a torn newspaper article about local politician Dan Cannon, who also happens to be Charley’s best friend. To make matters worse, a police detective from Toronto shows up and begins nosing around. Charley is not about to stand by and let her brother nor her friend take a fall for a murder based on circumstantial evidence. Not by a long shot.
Review
Good pace to the story, Charley is an interesting character and the story was intriguing enough to keep me reading. I think this is good groundwork for a cozy series with a lot of potential to develop Charley's reporting career as well as her relationships with Jack and Dan. Interesting historical context, well described post war social issues. Didn't fully predict the conclusion but wasn't surprised. Well considered approach to addiction and it's wider impact. I would definitely read other books by this author. Recommended for fans of cozy mysteries.

Great read by a new author for me. The plot is well written and enticing to the reader. The author writes in a way that makes the reader feel like part of The story.

I loved it!
Such a cozy mystery for fall evenings, that is very fast paced.
Great characters, and the plot keeps you engaged till the last page.
The ending was unexpected.

It's the first mystery I read in this series and won't be the last as I liked.
Well thought and interesting characters, a well developed plot and a solid mystery.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Serviable cozy mystery. Too modern in outlook for my tastes -- it didn't have a evocative feel I prefer in historical fiction.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy for my review.

I imagine this happened a lot at the time - women losing their hard won positions to returning soldiers. It’s an interesting layer to an already fascinating book, which challenges the reader to place it into any one genre. I loved the characters and the setting - both in terms of time and place - and think the author did an amazing job of touching on some pretty challenging gender issues while also telling a ripper of a tale.