Title: Fishing for Trouble
Author: Elizabeth Logan
Series: An Alaskan Diner Mystery #2
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: November 24, 2020
Pages: 303
Book Source: Netgalley
“Summer has come to Elkview, Alaska, bringing twenty hours of sunlight every day, not to mention a surge of tourists and seasonal workers. Chef Charlie Cooke is eager for a busy yet relaxing season, but when a young man working a summer job at the local fish processing plant dies moments after walking into the Bear Claw Diner, she’s quickly swept into the investigation.
Soon, through her best friend Annie Jensen, Charlie learns that another student worker at J and M Processing has disappeared, leaving more questions and fewer answers. The near-endless sunlight gives plenty of time to search for clues, but Charlie will have to work with Annie and local reporter Chris Doucette to net the killer before anyone else gets hurt.” – Amazon
Kim’s Review
I read Mousse and Murder, book one in An Alaskan Diner Mystery and gave it a three star rating because Logan just listed facts about Alaska instead of weaving them into the story, and none of the characters were engaging.
But since it was the first in the series and the first that I had read by Elizabeth Logan, I wanted to give book two a read, just in case it had improved. Obviously by my two star rating it hasn’t.
I really would expect better from an author that has five other series out under the names of Camille Minichino, Margaret Grace, and Jean Flowers.
So why am I being so harsh to Fishing for Trouble, besides the fact that I expect more from an author that has so many books out? Logan talks about Charlie’s cat, Benny, a lot. Now I love cats and hope to one day be a crazy cat lady, but at least a fourth of the book was talking about feeding, playing, snuggling, talking to, or missing Benny.
That time could have been spent working on character development, which is once again, lacking. The only character that gets interesting towards the end of the book is Chris, who suddenly turns into someone with spy or special training knowledge. Cool. Completely out of left field though. And not enough to make me want to read book three.
In the first book I thought it was a fun change to have the local sheriff actually include Charlie and the gang in his investigation, instead of constantly telling her not to get involved. I realize it’s a work of fiction, but at one point Charlie and Chris have one of the witnesses write down their information, get it notarized, and send them back home. Um. Without putting it past the sheriff, and saying something like, “Well, if they have to come back and testify at least our part is done.”
If you read this series, or other books by the author, I honestly hope you enjoy them more than I did. That’s the nice thing about reading, there are so many books out there, everyone can find something they enjoy… although this is not the case here for me.
Disclosure: Some of the links we use are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, we will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.