5 stars for The Slay’s the Thing by Louise Stevens #cozymystery #newrelease #bookreview
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    • Aug 31, 2023
    • 3 min read

5 stars for The Slay’s the Thing by Louise Stevens #cozymystery #newrelease #bookreview



Title: The Slay’s the Thing

Author: Louise Stevens

Genre: Cozy Mystery


Book Blurb:


I’m Amanda Seldon and I knew it would be a change to leave my soul-sucking corporate career and move back to my sleepy hometown to pursue my dream of being an author. But I never suspected it would literally be murder.


Working part-time at a summer stock theater is perfect to earn some cash. Until someone gets killed and the police chief suspects me. The cherry on top is the chief’s brother is my childhood crush, and I don’t want to be wearing an orange jumpsuit when we meet again. I set out to find the murderer with my two best friends, fun-loving aunt, and my anxious rescue dog. No problem, right? We’ve all read plenty of mysteries, and Fluffy is an attack shih tzu.


It’s the second act of my life, and in a play that’s when the exciting stuff happens. Exciting is fine, but will I be a free woman when the curtain goes down?


My Review:


I loved this cozy mystery!


Amanda Seldon, corporate human resources executive, returns to her small hometown from Los Angeles to reinvent herself as an author. She’s reunited with her two best friends from high school and her favorite aunt.


Taking a part-time job at the local summer stock theater seems like the perfect way to earn a bit of cash and still have time to write. Until…


The director of the play, Aaron Hillner, is murdered on stage, and the police chief is eyeing her as the prime suspect. Now, she’s reinventing herself as an amateur sleuth just to stay out of prison.


The Slay’s the Thing is everything a cozy mystery should be. Suspects abound. I kept saying “Oh, he did it,” “Wait, no she killed Aaron,” and I was wrong. Author Louise Stevens kept me guessing to the end, only for me to say, “Well, of course they did it.”


The small-town setting is realistic and left me feeling as if I had returned home myself. Her reunion with her best friends from high school and her loveable, if quirky, aunt is probably one of my favorite aspects of the story. I felt their friendship and love with every word Stevens wrote.


Then there was the romance element to the story. It’s satisfying on a romantic level, and it cleverly plays into the plot. She discovers her high school crush really was interested in her all the time. But now, it’s complicated. His brother is the police chief who is out to prove Amanda is the murderer.


But perhaps the star of the story is Fluffy, the rescue attack shih tzu. I love that Fluffy is a rescue with lingering issues from his previous life, but she loves him nonetheless.


Stevens has nailed the cozy mystery genre with this well-written novel with just enough twists and plots to keep you turning the pages to the end. If you’re looking for a sharp, well-written, fun mystery that will keep you guessing—and laughing—then this book is for you. I highly recommend The Slay’s the Thing by Louise Stevens.


My Rating: 5 stars


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Author Biography:


Louise Stevens is the author of the Port Sunset Mysteries, and the Second Act Cozy Mystery series. A lover of mysteries since her discovery of Nancy Drew many years ago, she is thrilled to be writing cozy mysteries now. She lives in Maryland with her husband, who also loves a good mystery, in a house packed with books.


Louise Stevens is the pen name of contemporary romance author Donna Simonetta.


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Reviewed by: Terry

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