A Shot of Murder is a lighthearted Southern cozy mystery and the debut novel in A Lucky Whiskey Mystery series. The story is told from Charlotte Lucky’s point-of-view. She has returned to Gett, Florida to help her grandfather after his heart attack, but Charlotte continues to hold onto her studio apartment in LA (a girl can hope). When Lucky finds their head distiller of The Lucky Whiskey Distillery shot to death in one of their casks of aging whiskey, her grandfather is arrested. Lucky begins questioning people around town and accusing them of murdering the man. Readers are then introduced to what seems like the entire population of Gett with many of them having the last name of Gett or related in some capacity. The two whiskey families (Gett and Lucky) have been feuding for two hundred years and Lucky is happy to keep the tradition alive. The Gett family is wealthy and owns many businesses in town while the Lucky family is decidedly luckless. The bickering and rivalry continues throughout the story. Brodie Gett offers to help Charlotte, or Charms as he calls her, is clearing Jack’s name. Distrust, miscommunication, and misunderstanding persists between them all through A Shot of Murder. Other recurring themes are Charlotte’s Prius (mentioned approximately 30 times), Brodie’s Jeep, the STD commercial Charlotte starred in (big mistake), extraordinarily bad food at the Gett Diner, and Charlotte blamed for writing Getting Lucky on water tower as a teenager. The townspeople are portrayed as redneck Southerners, with bad tempers, shabby clothing, large trucks, big guns and bad grammar. Alligators seem to pop up whenever Charlotte is in trouble (which is frequently) and incapacitated. The mystery was hard to concentrate on with everything else that was going on along with the multiple attacks threatening Charlotte’s life. Identifying the guilty party is, unfortunately, a cinch along with the reason for the violence. There is one man who believes a woman’s place is on her knees (and, unfortunately, he does not mean praying) and is particularly violent towards Charlotte. Foul language is rampant in A Shot of Murder. Charlotte is an immature woman with her foot stomping when she does not get her way, petulant attitude, eye rolling, accusations, rudeness, yelling and foul mouth (plus she is clumsy). I found reading A Shot of Murder to be a frustrating experience (it gave me a migraine). I did like Rue Gett and her grandson, Brodie. It is plain to see that Jack loves Charlotte. They have a sweet relationship. I liked that the book was set in the sunshine state. A Shot of Murder could have benefited from a severe editing and a major rewrite. A Shot of Murder is a blithe cozy mystery with attacking alligators, wrecked whiskey, bobbing body parts, detestable diner food, and feuding families. ( )

cozy-mystery, law-enforcement, murder-investigation, small-town, distillery, family-dynamics, friendship*****

Except for the gator, this book could have been set in stifling small town anywhere! The lightning speed gossip, the folks not letting any infraction go even after a number of years, the classmates from a time ago who haven't changed much. That's exactly what happened to Charlotte when she flew back to town leaving her California life behind ten years after graduation to be with her grandfather and do whatever necessary at his distillery, the only really important person left in her life. But in a short time she finds a vital employee dead in a whisky cask and grandpa arrested and jailed for it. The sleuthing gets dangerous and the guy who was her nemesis years ago and is the grandson of the rival distillery is a thorn in her side yet again. Lots of plot twists and red herrings, too! I finished the book in one day because I couldn't put it down!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Beyond the Page Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )

A Shot of Murder is a lighthearted Southern cozy mystery and the debut novel in A Lucky Whiskey Mystery series. The story is told from Charlotte Lucky’s point-of-view. She has returned to Gett, Florida to help her grandfather after his heart attack, but Charlotte continues to hold onto her studio apartment in LA (a girl can hope). When Lucky finds their head distiller of The Lucky Whiskey Distillery shot to death in one of their casks of aging whiskey, her grandfather is arrested. Lucky begins questioning people around town and accusing them of murdering the man. Readers are then introduced to what seems like the entire population of Gett with many of them having the last name of Gett or related in some capacity. The two whiskey families (Gett and Lucky) have been feuding for two hundred years and Lucky is happy to keep the tradition alive. The Gett family is wealthy and owns many businesses in town while the Lucky family is decidedly unlucky. The bickering and rivalry continues throughout the story. Brodie Gett offers to help Charlotte, or Charms as he calls her, is clearing Jack’s name. Distrust, miscommunication and misunderstanding persists between them all through A Shot of Murder. Other recurring themes are Charlotte’s Prius (mentioned approximately 30 times), Brodie’s Jeep, the STD commercial Charlotte starred in (big mistake), extraordinarily bad food at the Gett Diner, and Charlotte blamed for writing Getting Lucky on water tower as a teenager. The townspeople are portrayed as redneck Southerners, with bad tempers, shabby clothing, large trucks, big guns and bad grammar. Alligators seem to pop up whenever Charlotte is in trouble (which is frequently) and incapacitated. The mystery was hard to concentrate on with everything else that was going on along with the multiple attacks threatening Charlotte’s life. I had no problem, though, identifying the guilty party along with the reason for the violence. There is one man (Boone) who believes a woman’s place is on her knees (and, unfortunately, he does not mean praying) and is particularly violent towards Charlotte. Foul language is rampant in A Shot of Murder. Charlotte is an immature woman with her foot stomping when she does not get her way, petulant attitude, eye rolling, accusations, rudeness, yelling and foul mouth (plus she is clumsy). I found reading A Shot of Murder to be a frustrating experience (it gave me a migraine). I did like Rue Gett and her grandson, Brodie. It is plain to see that Jack loves Charlotte plus I liked that the book is set in Florida. A Shot of Murder could have benefited from a severe editing and a major rewrite. ( )

This is the start of a new Lucky Whiskey Mystery-series. Charlotte "Charms" Lucky has come home to Gett Florid after ten years of glamorous life in Hollywood. Her grandfather is having health issues and Charlotte is taking care of him and the Lucky Whiskey distillery, a family business. Charlotte finds a body in one of the whiskey casks and her grandfather is accused of murdering an employee. Gett is a small town of 845 people where the Gett family owns another local whiskey distillery. Gett's and Lucky's are in competition. Charlotte starts to investigate the murder. She just can't believe the grandfather who took care of her after her parents died, could kill a man. Gorgeous Brodie Gett promises to help Charlotte with her quest.
Charlotte is resourceful and headstrong. She can identify the brand of whiskey from people's breath. Brodie is a Gett and has secrets of his own.
In the start I had trouble getting in the story. There were so many characters and sometimes I had to go back and check who they were. After a while the story sucked me in. The setting is interesting. The alligators seem to be a part of people's daily lives. They pop up when you least expect it.
This was a nice cozy mystery. I look forward to reading more books from this series.
Thank you NetGalley and Midnight Ink for a copy of this book. ( )