A Killer Plot - Books by the Bay Mystery Novel for Crime Fiction Lovers

Since returning to Oyster Bay, North Carolina, Olivia Limoges has kept a low profile, mainly preferring the company of her dog Captain Haviland instead of that of humans. But that changes when she meets Camden Ford who belongs to a writers group. Olivia is working on a novel and agrees to join the group. Olivia quickly bonds with the group and is devastated when one of them is murdered. The killer left one big clue behind - a haiku poem. The group tries to solve this mystery even as more bodies begin piling up."A Killer Plot", the first book in Ellery Adams' "Books by the Bay" mystery series, is a wonderful character-drive mystery. It is indeed the characters that make this mystery worth reading and Adams has created a bunch of quirky if at times sad and poignant characters. Some of the characters like, Camden and his partner Cosmo, border on caricature but Adams still manages to make you like and care for them. Olivia, of course, is the strongest and deepest character and I loved the way Adams takes her time slowly unveiling facets of Olivia's character and back story throughout the book - Adams is at her best as she slowly reveals what happened to Olivia's parents. (Pay particular attention to the book Olivia is writing as it subtly reveals aspects of her character - nicely done by Adams). I also loved the portrayal of her dog, Captain Haviland, who almost seems human at time - in fact, Olivia treats him that way. The members of the writing group are also well written and each adds an important part to the book. The town of Oyster Bay is also another character in the book and I liked the descriptions of the various businesses, especially Flynn McNulty's book store. The mystery aspects are well done, if a bit sad - particularly the motive for the first murder."A Killer Plot" is a nicely done mystery and I look forward to reading the next book in the series and visiting Olivia and friends again.