Murder at the Jubilee Rally
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4.3 • 8 Ratings
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Chief of Police Samuel Craddock faces a race against time to solve a perplexing murder at a motorcycle rally before the event comes to an end.
"Suggest for fans of mysteries featuring small-town police forces, including novels by Claire Booth, Steven F. Havill, and Tricia Fields" - Library Journal Starred Review
With the annual Jubilee Motorcycle Rally approaching, Jarrett Creek residents are divided. Some despise the rowdy, unsavory behaviour of the bikers, but they bring welcome money to local merchants. What’s to be done?
At a town meeting to find a solution, temperatures flare as Amber Johnson and Lily Deverell – family women on opposing sides of the debate – throw accusations at each other. Attempting to appease both camps, Chief of Police Samuel Craddock enacts a curfew to dissuade late-night revellers.
Nevertheless, trouble strikes. With the rally in full swing, Amber is found murdered at the event. Why did Amber leave her home that night? What secrets was she hiding from her family?
Craddock quickly faces more challenges as he offers to take in his rebellious teenaged niece, Hailey, whose parents are at their wits’ end. He soon understands their pain. Can Craddock keep Hailey under control, or will dealing with her allow a murderer to escape justice?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The stabbing murder of convenience store owner Amber Johnson on the opening night of the annual Jarrett Creek, Tex., motorcycle rally drives Shames's entertaining ninth Samuel Craddock mystery (after 2019's A Risky Undertaking for Loretta Singletary). Amber had a heated argument with Lily Deverell at a city council meeting only a few days earlier because Lily wanted to cancel the rally, but Craddock, the town's police chief, soon comes to suspect other factors were involved. If, for example, Amber's family was financially hard up, where did she get the $200 found in her purse when she died? What was she doing in the RV of shady lawyer and suspected drug dealer Grant Butler? And who was the man with whom Amber was seen walking on the night of her murder? The police chief's methodical weighing of the evidence eventually leads to a well-crafted solution. Craddock's understated first-person narration, the vivid secondary characters, and a nicely drawn small-town setting more than compensate for a plot that offers little in the way of action or suspense. This entry should win Shames new fans.
