It’s not easy being the baby of the family. No one believes me when I tell them I’ll put gas in their car before I bring it back, that I have no idea where their favorite sweater went, or that there’s a dead body in the supply closet.

But I should probably start on the first track of the record, shouldn’t I? My name is Juniper Jessup, but most folks around here call me Juni. When I was little, my grandparents owned a record store. My parents met and fell in love at that record store. My big sisters and I grew up doing our homework at the check-out counter while anything from Miles Davis to Depeche Mode played on the turntables. Now, nearly twenty years after MP3s came along and made us obsolete, vinyl is making a comeback and my sisters and I are rebooting the family business.

The new and improved Sip & Spin Records was all set to serve up the coolest music and the hottest drinks in Texas before a woman’s deader-than-disco body fell out of the supply closet during our grand opening party.

I mean, talk about timing.

Now the local detective, who I’ve mostly forgiven for breaking my heart years ago, is brewing up trouble for my dear, sweet uncle. Okay, my uncle isn’t that sweet, but he’s innocent. I’m at least ninety percent sure of that. Unfortunately, after we put the shop up for collateral to bail him out, rather than stay and face the music, Uncle Calvin took off for parts unknown leaving my sisters and I up to our ears in hot, caffeinated water.

After spending two years working the register at a big box store, I swore I’d never work in retail again. But never say never, right? Once the crime scene was cleared away and we were finally allowed to open the shop, now I spend most of my days behind the counter, working shoulder-to-shoulder with my sisters at Sip & Spin Records, and I love it! When we first started, I didn’t know the difference between a macchiato and a cappuccino, but now I can make either drink with my eyes closed. Not that I would, of course. Burning myself once on hot steam was enough to learn my lesson.

But while I’m helping customers discover new music or I’m brewing up the special of the day—like Java B. Goode—the situation with my uncle’s disappearance is growing dire. The longer he stays in hiding, the worse he looks. The cops, including my ex, who is leading the investigation even as he’s trying to win me back, are so convinced that my uncle is guilty, they aren’t even trying to find the real killer.

I’m a whiz with computers. I brew a mean cup of joe. I’m a savvy small business owner. Not counting that time I accidentally dropped my oldest sister, Tansy’s, Teen Miss Texas crown in the river or when I mistakenly microwaved my sister Maggie’s makeup, I’m a great little sis. Too bad I know nothing about being a detective, but I’m going to have to learn fast if I want to clear my uncle’s name and save the family record shop-slash-coffee bar by finding the murderer, all while blending delicious brews and practicing my latte foam art.

Hey, it’s been great chatting with you, but I’ve got to go help a customer locate the new Taylor Swift album. Next time you’re in Cedar River, Texas, drop on in to Sip & Spin records and I’ll serve you up an All The Single Lattes and help you find that special vinyl record you’ve been looking for. Just ask for Juni Jessup. I’m always here, when I’m not finding dead bodies or chasing killers, that is.

Vinyl Resting Place, A Record Shop Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: December 2022
Purchase Link

First in a new series by Olivia Blacke, Vinyl Resting Place follows three sisters who discover that opening a family business can be murder.

When Juni Jessup and her sisters Tansy and Maggie put all their beans in one basket to open Sip & Spin Records, a record-slash-coffee shop in Cedar River, Texas, they knew there could be some scratches on the track, but no one was expecting to find a body deader than disco in the supply closet.

Family is everything to the Jessups, so when their uncle is arrested by Juni’s heartbreaking ex on suspicion of murder, the sisters don’t skip a beat putting Sip & Spin up for bail collateral. But their tune changes abruptly when Uncle Calvin disappears, leaving them in a grind. With their uncle’s freedom and the future of their small business on the line, it’s up to Juni and her sisters to get in the groove and figure out whodunit before the killer’s trail—and the coffee—goes cold.

Music and mocha seem like a blend that should be “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” but caught up in a murder investigation with her family and their life savings on the line, Juni wonders if she might be on the “Highway to Hell” instead.

About the author
Olivia Blacke (she/her), author of the Record Shop Mysteries, beginning with Vinyl Resting Place, and the Brooklyn Murder Mysteries, finally found a way to put her Criminology degree to good use by writing quirky, unconventional, character-driven cozy mysteries. Olivia is a little nerdy, a lot awkward, and just the right amount of weird. She is a recovering ex-Texan who resides with her husband Potassium and Baileycakes, their roly-poly rescue puggle. When not writing, reading, or spending way too much time on social media, Olivia enjoys Amigurumi crochet, scuba diving, collecting tattoos, watching hockey, and baking dog cookies. She wants to be a unicorn when she grows up.

Connect with Olivia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or check out her website OliviaBlacke.com.

All comments are welcomed.