“Courtyard Corpse” A Cassie Hall Mystery by Sherry Lodge

by Sandra Murphy

Details on how to win a copy of this book at the end of the review.

Cassie Hall works at the Parkstone Manor in Bethesda, Maryland. She’s the daytime concierge and loves her job. She loves her sideline job as fashionista even more. Originally from Colorado, she followed boyfriend Eric, a police detective, to Maryland in hopes that he would propose. It’s been fifteen years, and she’s still waiting.

Once in a while, okay, several times lately, Cassie’s been late for work but only once with deadly consequences. When she got to the front desk, the building’s water was turned off, and even though tenants had been warned, the phone rang off the hook with complaints. A scream from the courtyard propelled Cassie away from the desk and out the door where she found the body of Kip Ace, golf pro and all around good guy—or is he? Eric arrives on the scene, declares it’s murder, and locks the building down for 24 hours.

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Since the courtyard is in the center of the building and no one came in or out during that time, it’s apparent the murderer is one of the residents. Motive seems scarce at first, but gradually Cassie hears Kip wasn’t as good a guy as his image promised. First, he argued with a resident about a business deal and another over a collectible bottle of wine. He pulled out of a charity fundraiser at the last minute. There are rumors of an affair, of a disagreement between Kip and his wife Bunny about living at the Parkstone permanently, and Kip’s car had been damaged in the garage, whether on purpose or not, or by who, no one knows.

Image source: Cozy Cat Press

Cassie’s job is on the line since she should have made her walk to check the courtyard just about the time the murder took place. Management blames her and says when the lockdown is over, so is her job. She has 24 hours to help Eric solve the case, whether he wants her help or not.

The book is a cozy, light read with a peek into the life of the rich and those who work for them. Cassie and Eric make a great couple, the residents are an assortment of kooks and cranks, and the mystery more nerve wracking since there’s no possibility an outsider did the deed. This is the first of four books in the series. Look for “Cloakroom Corpse,” “Clubroom Corpse,” and “Cabana Corpse.”

To enter to win a copy of Courtyard Corpse, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “courtyard,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen June 17, 2017. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please included your mailing address.

You can use this link to purchase the book. If you have adblocker on you may not be able to see the Amazon link:

Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the arch, in the land of blues, booze and shoes—St Louis, Missouri. While writing magazine articles to support her mystery book habit, she secretly polishes two mystery books of her own, hoping, someday, they will see the light of Barnes and Noble. You can also find several of Sandra’s short stories on UnTreed Reads including her newest, "Arthur", included in the anthology titled, Flash and Bang, available now.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.