Snow Time to Die - Northwoods Mysteries Book 3 by Annie McEwan

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my Instagram feed are of my own doing. 

Snow Time to Die
Northwoods Mysteries Book #3
Annie McEwen 

This is my favorite of the Northwoods Mysteries thus far. Book three is a cozy character’s nightmare and growth arc all in one. You cannot help but like our sleuth, Emmerlyn “Emmy” Cooper, she is kind, thoughtful, funny, a little sassy, and a bit of a klutz. In other words, she is completely relatable and someone that you could see having as a friend. As with many cozy characters, she didn’t truly realize her self-worth until she needed to either return home or start over somewhere new. In Emmy’s case, she came back home to Lake Covington and sort of started over in the family business, Cooper’s Cover Resort. While all of this is hashed out in the series starter, there are plenty of references in book 3 to keep the reader on the same page as the characters. 

On to the nightmare part of the mystery and no it is not the murder, it is an encounter with the childhood nemesis Vanessa Vernor, and her over the top childish comments and entitled attitude. The tête-à-tête is followed by an encounter with Gwenda Caperwell, the woman who fired Emmy from Trent Architecture and Design just 9 months prior and led to Emmy returning to Lake Covington and truly living her best life. But wait the nightmare gets even scarier. Both viper like women end up getting snowed in at Emmy’s family resort and then Gwenda is found dead...by Emmy.    

 It will quickly become obvious that Gwenda has not made many friends in her life and she seemed determined to chastise, harangue, and otherwise belittle as many people as possible, which means there are plenty of suspects right there at the scene of the crime, and I don’t mean Emmy. There is the recently divorced husband, the old college boyfriend she dumped for said ex-husband, the college girlfriend of the ex-husband, a professional adversary who is also her sister-in-law, and the poor assistant who is at her beck and call and the brunt of Gwenda’s bad moods. With all of those suspects snowed in at the resort, of course Emmy is going to get herself involved, she cannot help her curious nature. Fortunately, her cop boyfriend Dean Erickson is understanding, her best friend Whitney is able to be brought up by snow mobile to help with cooking and clue finding, plus there is the undercover Addy who is more than capable of handling herself.

 This mystery does a great job holding your attention as you find yourself turning page after page and snickering at Emmy’s creative cozy style cursing. There is even some sighing over how cute DKDK and Emmy are together, just the right amount of romance and fun. I kept guessing but did not completely get it until Ms. McEwen was ready to have Emmy lead me to the solution. An excellent cozy and I look forward to my next visit to Cooper’s Cove.