Promising start to a smalltown mystery series, in the classic mode.

Great for fans of Caroline Graham, Kate Atkinson.

MYSTERY/THRILLER A Dagger Among Friends: Harvest Falls Mysteries, Book 1 Craig Comer | Copper Pot Books 344p, e-book, $4.99, ASIN B0CCHT8W81

Newly single Charlie Goode returns to her small Oregon hometown, where her father is the police chief, to start off Comer’s Harvest Falls mystery series. Her old friend Addie has been found murdered, and the ensuing investigation upends the tourist town, bringing rivalries and jealousies to the surface. Charlie sets herself up as an amateur sleuth, despite some hesitations—“as if I knew anything more than Vera Stanhope or Stephanie Plum had taught me,” she muses, relatably. Still, she soon comes across all kinds of surprise connections, such as a long-ago suicide and local economic problems. The possibility of a new romance threatens to sidetrack Charlie, but at the end, with the assistance of her cousin Case, she cuts through all the small town rumors to find a killer—and learn some lessons.

Comer has a wonderful sense of small town rhythms and how the insular world breeds both deep connection but also deep resentments. He shows, through Charlie’s eyes, how the same inter-family problems play across the generations and how deeply petty class differences can matter. Comer populates the town with a large, colorful cast, built to anchor a series, including an overeager baker and a delightfully loopy mayor, though at times it takes some work to keep track of all the interactions and connections. However, Charlie moves through the story at a nice clip, and readers will be pulling for her to reach the finish line.

In fact, aside from the story, readers will find themselves charmed by Charlie and her self-deprecating narration. One of the great pleasures of the book is seeing how Charlie grows emotionally: she’s forced to take a fresh look at her hometown’s past and discovers things were not always as she had thought, a truth that possibly extends to a budding relationship, too. Also coming across as real is Charlie’s connection with her father, as she helps and defends him, and their bonding at the end is moving. Readers will look forward to Charlie’s next case.

Cover: A- | Design & typography: A | Illustrations: – Editing: A- | Marketing copy: A