THE BRANSON BEAUTY

THE BRANSON BEAUTY
A Novel
by
Claire Booth
 

ABOUT THE BOOK: (from Night Owl Reviews)

• Number: 9781250084385
• Release: July 19, 2016
• Author: Claire Booth
• Availability: Print-Book
• Genre: Suspense
• Tags: * SUSP: Mystery, * SUSP: Cozy, Debut Title, #Series Starter
• Publisher: Minotaur Books

The Branson Beauty, an old showboat, has crashed in the waters of an Ozark mountain lake just outside the popular tourist destination of Branson, Missouri. More than one hundred people are trapped aboard. Hank Worth is still settling into his new role as county sheriff, and when he responds to the emergency call, he knows he’s in for a long winter day of helping elderly people into rafts and bringing them ashore. He realizes that he’ll face anxiety, arguments, and extra costs for emergency equipment that will stretch the county’s already thin budget to the breaking point. But he is absolutely not expecting to discover high school track star Mandy Bryson’s body locked inside the Captain’s private dining room. Suddenly, Hank finds himself embroiled in a murder investigation, with the county commissioner breathing down his neck and the threat of an election year ahead of him. And as he wades deeper into the investigation, Hank starts to realize he’s up against a web of small town secrets much darker and more tangled than he could have ever imagined. In her captivating debut novel, Claire Booth has created a broad cast of wonderfully compelling characters, and she perfectly blends humor with the emotional drama and heartache of a murder investigation.



MY THOUGHTS:
We live about 15 minutes from Branson and this book was so real with it's locations and descriptions of the many theaters and scenery around Branson, Missouri.   Table Rock Lake is a beautiful place so I immediately became hooked.   The book was so realistic with the description of the Branson Beauty, a show boat that goes around Table Rock Lake.   I had no idea that the book would go in the direction it did.  With the show boat crashing, murder and evidence being destroyed.   If you love mysteries as I do, then this mystery will hold your attention as though you lived in Branson and this actually happened.  If you think this mystery is easily solved as I did, you're wrong as was I.  As I turned the pages, the author would give you a twist and turn in the investigation.  I felt that I knew the sheriff and his family.   The author gives you people you feel you know, that you are sitting on the edge of the lake as the over 100 people are evacuated from the crashed show boat.   The author not only gives you the good characters, but the bad and the ones that appeared bad.  You get a variety of characters, all that hold a place in the mystery of the Branson Beauty and the murder that occurred on deck.  Some of the characters I loved, some I wanted to get caught and serve out justice.  SO grab a copy and travel the beautiful lake as the Branson Beauty cruises, crashes and eventually sinks, but not before crimes are committed.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author and Night Owl Reviews in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

I would give this book 4.5 STARS.