Diners, Dives & Dead Ends by Terri L. Austin

It has a new cover and has been lightly edited. This book was originally published in 2012. With her anime-loving bestie, her septuagenarian boss, and a pair of IT wise men along for the ride, Rose goes from zero to sixty and quickly learns when you're speeding down the fast lane, it's easy to crash and burn. Now she’s hashing it out with sexy bad guys and scrambling to find clues in a race to save Axton before his time runs out.

But when her close friend, Axton, disappears, Rose suddenly finds herself serving up more than hot coffee and flapjacks. I absolutely can't wait to see what is in store for Rose and her quirky friends next.' - Cozy Mystery Book ReviewsĪs a struggling waitress and part-time college student, Rose Strickland’s life is stalled in the slow lane. Often bleak, and lacking a lighter touch that would be more appropriate to its premise, this is not an altogether promising start to this series.Īcknowledgment: Henery Press provided an ARC of Diners, Dives & Dead Ends for this review.'With twists, turns and surprises that left me hanging on right to the end, I couldn’t put it down. And it's never promising when the lead character doesn't act smart in probably the best example of such - it happens early enough in the book not be a spoiler for saying so here - Rose passes along her only connection to Axton - his backpack - to people she barely knows. There is, to be sure, an interesting cast of characters, but they, too seem shallow and not fully realized. To its credit, the plot does move along quickly, but is thinly developed. That isn't the case here, and while one should never judge a book by its title - or cover - there is a real disconnect between what is suggested (by both) and what is delivered. With a title like Diners, Dives & Dead Ends, one might expect a light, possibly culinary-related, cozy-style mystery.

Axton is definitely in trouble, and her only clue is his backpack. A black SUV has been tailing her, and two men have broken into her apartment to have a 'friendly' chat with her. The police won't do anything for 48 hours, but Rose knows she can't wait that long.

So she's concerned that he hasn't checked in with her, his co-workers, his roommate, or his family. Rose has known Axton Graystone forever, from first grade through high school, and though he's not a model citizen - he's been arrested for possession a couple of times - she knows he would never leave without letting her know where he's going. Review: Rose Strickland's close friend hands her his backpack, asks her to keep it safe, then promptly disappears, causing her to worry about his safety … especially after she's accosted herself by men looking for him in Diners, Dives & Dead Ends, the first mystery in this series by Terri L.

Diners, Dives & Dead Ends by Terri L. Austin