Dru’s Short Musing:
When her friend becomes a prime suspect in a recent murder, Emmy along with her friends are on the case.
This story immediately captured my attention from the first page to its conclusion. The writing was crisp and the comfortable tone made it easy to follow along. The author did a great job in staging this well-executed mystery with a good plot involving interior decorating, hidden rooms, a skeleton, and the secrets contained within the wall of the mansion. When a dead body is found in the same location, the hunt is on for a present-day murderer. With a handful of viable suspects, secrets waiting to be exposed, this tale kept me connected and intrigued in the mysterious two deaths. I liked how the author laid out this story with visually descriptive narrative and with engaging dialogue the story comes alive as it moved forward with each step taking us closer to the killer’s identity. This was a fun book to read and like fine wine, McEwen’s work gets better and better with each book written. Overall, this is one of the best books in this delightfully entertaining series. And that ending, I can’t wait to read the next installment in the “Northwoods” series.
Series: A Northwoods Mystery, Book 5
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: September 1, 2026
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
Book Synopsis:
From author Annie McEwen comes a book of secrets that refuse to stay buried…
While Emmy Cooper is happy to have settled back in her hometown in the Wisconsin Northwoods, leaving her life as an interior designer in Chicago behind, her skills come in handy when her good friends need help restoring a rundown Victorian mansion into a B&B on the shores of Lake Superior. But things take a turn for the sinister when Emmy uncovers a hidden tunnel on the property—and a skeleton that’s been keeping its secrets for over a century! The discovery points to a possible Prohibition past and a mystery that spans decades.
While trying to uncover the skeleton’s long-dead secrets, Emmy is also helping at her family’s Cooper’s Cove Resort, where her grandparents’ high school reunion fills the lodge with laughter, memories, and familiar faces. The stories shared begin to reveal more than anyone expects, and as the gossip mill spins, new clues surface…along with another dead body! Emmy—alongside her closest friends—must uncover a killer in the present while untangling a century-old mystery, before Emmy herself becomes history!
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the author.