Reviewed by Rosetta Diane Hoessli, Author

I loved Karen C. Whalen’s characters in her SEA OATS BEACH cozy mystery series: flawed, all-too-human, and totally relatable. As are the wonderfully engaging cast of characters in Whalen’s FEAR IN FIRST GEAR. They drive the story, not the other way around, and that always makes me want to settle in for a nice, long read.

Delaney Morran is a petite, red-haired tow truck driver famous for wearing three-inch stiletto heels whenever she answers a tow call in or around the small mountain town of Spruce Ridge, Colorado. To my mind, she’s practically Every Woman: she loves shoes and shopping, a handsome law enforcement officer in uniform, and sinking her teeth into a rock-solid mystery.

But Delaney’s famous around Spruce Ridge for something else, too. She accidentally finds dead people – or, rather, dead people seem to find her. More specifically, homicide victims. And, well, when that happens…you can’t just let it go, right?

In this tale, Delaney starts her day by heading out on a call through a mountain pass in a blinding snowstorm and catches a glimpse, for just for a moment, of a woman sitting, slack-jawed, inside her car. Dead, Delaney’s almost certain, but she can’t stop. When she finally returns to Spruce Ridge and tries to tell the police, no one pays much attention because…well, as usual, no one’s reported a missing woman, and no one else saw her. So, Delaney’s on her own, again – except for Kris, her best friend, who’s always in her corner.

This is a fun read; I read it in one afternoon. It’s written in first person, from the viewpoint of Delaney Morran, and it’s written so cozily and with so much self-deprecating humor that I felt like I was reading a personal diary. Subplots and clues were weaved through the main plot with just enough weight to hold my attention, but not so much that they were overwhelming or confusing. Also, even though this is Book 7 in THE TOW TRUCK MURDER MYSTERIES series, it stands alone just fine.

If you’re looking for something light-hearted and cozy to take you away from ‘all this,’ pick up a copy of FEAR IN FIRST GEAR, by Karen C. Whalen.

I’m giving it four stars.