The Readaholics and the Falcon Fiasco

As soon as I heard the premise for this first in a cozy mystery series, I knew it was for me. The Readaholics and the Falcon Fiasco revolves around a mystery-reading book club organized by event planner Amy-Faye Johnson.

She lives in a small Colorado town, where the other club members are her best friend, Brooke, a society wife; Lola, who runs a plant nursery and mothers her younger sister; the older Maud, a web designer, hunting guide, and conspiracy buff; Kerry, mayor and real estate agent; and Ivy, admin to the town’s chief financial officer. Unfortunately, after feeling ill at the latest book club meeting, Ivy dies the next morning, found by Amy-Faye.

Since the club has just read The Maltese Falcon, they take to heart the lessons that when your partner is killed, you do something about it and how many villains can be involved in a crime. Although Ivy’s death is first ruled a suicide, Amy-Faye isn’t convinced. Her questions lead to unpleasant discoveries of whom Ivy was involved with and what’s going on with town decision makers.

For the romantic side, Amy-Faye is having to put together the wedding of her ex-boyfriend Doug and his New York lawyer fiancee at the same time she’s getting to know the investigating detective, Georgia transplant Lindell Hart. She’s also being hit on by Ivy’s ex-con brother Ham, but he’s a creep.

Laura DiSilverio keeps things moving in a snappy fashion, establishing distinct personalities with plenty of humor. Her writing is a pleasure to read. I liked the small moments she included, such as Amy-Faye tossing vocabulary synonyms back and forth with her assistant Al, or the way the club watches the movie after the book they read or the events Amy-Faye plans. Most of all, I enjoyed spending time with and rooting for these characters.