Come Homicide or High Water (Welcome Back to Scumble River, #3)

by Denise Swanson

From New York Times bestselling author Denise Swanson comes Come Homicide or High Water, a cozy mystery full of twist and turns and small town charm! Because despite appearances, there's something fishy just below the surface of Scumble River...
You'll love getting to know this brand-new series from the author of the beloved Scumble River Mysteries. This book is:A delightful small town cozy mysteryFull of quirky, lovable charactersPerfect for fans of Kate Carlisle and Miranda JamesWelcome back to Scumble River! Skye Denison-Boyd is getting ready to return to work from her maternity leave and hoping for a peaceful year in her job as a school psychologist. But when an elderly woman disappears on her first day back and a disgruntled parent threatens to sue the school, Skye realizes that her return will be anything but quiet.
When the parent suing Skye's school is found dead and with the missing woman's case is still unsolved, Skye suspects the crimes are somehow linked. With her chief of police husband, Wally, at her side, Skye dives into the investigations. Now she and Wally barely have enough time for date night once the babies are asleep! But as tensions rise and Skye and Wally's suspect list lengthens, they start to wonder whether they'll be able to catch the guilty ones before tragedy strikes again.

• ISBN10: 1492685976
• ISBN13: 9781492685975
• Publish Date: 31 December 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Poisoned Pen Press
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Come Homicide or High Water is the third book in the spinoff cozy mystery series by Denise Swanson. Released 31st Dec. 2019 from Poisoned Pen Press, it's 352 pages and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

This is an odd cozy with an extremely quirky set of characters. There are some humorous moments and overall the whole is fluffy, humorous, and passably well written. There is a murder mystery wrapped in the disappearance of an elderly woman. Multiple disparate plot threads intertwine in the central murder and disappearance including house-building contractor woes, antagonistic counterproductive school administrators, and main character Skye trying to raise twins and keep her marriage on an even keel living in an RV on site where her house is being rebuilt.

I didn't find Skye a particularly sympathetic character, she's meant to be a school psychologist and has demonstrably bad impulse control and planning issues of her own. I found myself being yanked out of the story by eye-watering dialogue when any of the Dooziers show up. The buildup and denouement were just strange and 'off' to me.

I read this one as a standalone which undoubtedly contributed to my disorientation when reading. The reviews I've read are almost universally glowing. I think this would be a better fit for fans of 'wacky & whimsical' small town cozies. Bonus points for fans of the author's other work. The language was surprisingly strong (lots of cursing and adult themes) for a warm & fuzzy type cozy. The author (who was a school psychologist herself) also writes some characters who have mental health issues in a manner which seemed unnecessarily stereotyping.

Three and a half stars, rounded up because the prose really is quite good for the genre.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.