Book Review of A Cameo Appearance: An Aspen Notch Mystery, Book 3.
The author, Kathleen McKee wrote the first two books in the Aspen Notch Mystery set, starting in 2019. When I selected the book to read, the introduction made me think that the story would remind me of a Hallmark Mystery.
I wasn’t too surprised to find that I was right. The clean-cut characters were almost too good to be true. The story starts with a thunderstorm that had damaging winds. A father and son are stranded in Aspen Notch, because the storm has damaged their RV.
The main character, Sue, goes overboard trying to accomodate their every need, including allowing the father and son to move in with them. After they live in her house for a week, she then allows them to live in her garage. There is no bathroom.
Next, Sue hires him to work and manage her store, including handling the cash. With only knowing him a week or two, she trusts him completely to open and close the store for her. This seems a little absurd.
Later, she discovers that Ryan’s parents were murdered in Aspen Notch years ago. She decides to help him solve the murder mystery.
The first 10 chapters are very slow, as the book’s author is building the characters. But, there is much fluff, discussing what everyone is eating and other trivial information. After chapter 10, there is still a slow-moving plot.
After reading Book 3 in this Aspen Notch series, I won’t go back and read books 1 and 2. I didn’t find the characters to be believable and the plot was too slow for me.
The book can be found at Amazon, along with the other 2 books in the Aspen Notch Mystery series. There are 227 pages and the formats include paperback and Kindle.
@2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman