Bea Reviews The Musubi Murder by Frankie Bow

Publisher: Five Star Publishing 
Series: Molly Barda #1
Source: the pr firm in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: July 22, 2015
Challenges: COYER Summer Scavenger Hunt | Cruisin' Through the Cozies
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
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Blurb from the author:

In the remote college town of Mahina, Hawaii, Molly Barda just wants to stay out of trouble until she gets tenure, but there’s a problem. A grisly prank targeting a controversial donor puts her college in financial jeopardy. Molly’s hapless ex is implicated, and Molly soon finds herself neck-deep in a stew of corruption, revenge, and murder. Along the way, she finds herself drawn to a local fast-food entrepreneur, the too-good-to-be-true Donnie Gonsalves, who seems to like her for all the wrong reasons–and has a few secrets of his own.

Bea's Thoughts:

A cozy mystery set in Hawaii at a college? Well, how could I resist. Most of what I know about Hawaii I learned from watching "Magnum, P.I." :D

The setting was one of my favorite parts of the story. Not just the Hawaii setting but also the college setting. I could visualize the settings. Rather than a bland, generic setting, "The Musubi Murder" rang with vibrancy and color. Those of us readers, such as myself, who teach, can relate to the budget cuts, the departmental and interdepartmental politics, the deferred building maintenance, etc. regardless of the age you teach.

Molly and her friends Pat and Emma made a good investigations team, even if their initial reason for being involved was slight. Molly's involvement made more sense when she agreed to help an old flame who is tagged as a person of interest in the murder. Molly could be sulky and whiny but she was also smart, loyal, clever, and a dedicated teacher as well a frustrated professor. Bow did a good job drawing the characters and making them real.

I had no clue what musubi was and had to look it up. There were quite a few Hawaiian words that I didn't know; some I could figure out from context while others had me scratching my head. The Kindle dictionary was pretty useless and I had to Google most of them (Amazon, hint hint. Update your dictionary.)

"The Musubi Murder" was full of red herrings, though I did guess who the killer was, excellent use of setting, interesting characters, and a story that kept me entertained. It's a good start to a new series.

A favorite quote:

This is what happens when you gossip abut people using their real names. I have to stop doing that. Using real names, I mean.

About the Author ~ 

Like Molly Barda, Frankie Bow teaches at a public university. Unlike her protagonist, she is blessed with delightful students, sane colleagues, a loving family, and a perfectly nice office chair. She believes if life isn’t fair, at least it can be entertaining.

In addition to writing murder mysteries, she publishes in scholarly journals under her real name. Her experience with academic publishing has taught her to take nothing personally.


Find Frankie Online:

Website: www.frankiebow.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Frankie_Bow
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frankie.bow.1
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/frankie-bow/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7809288.Frankie_Bow

 

The author is giving away a Musubi Murder mug to one lucky winner. The author is solely responsible for providing the prize. No purchase necessary. VOID where prohibited.

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