Botched 4 Murder by J. C. Eaton is the 4th book in the Sophie Kimball Mystery series, and another fun read. Sophie, “Phee”, Kimball gets sucked into another murder investigation by her mother and friends. I love this series, this book made me laugh out loud, it was so funny. Once I started this book, I could not stop reading it until I was done. Not only is this book an exciting mystery but also very refreshing and a quick read. If you love funny cozy mysteries, which are my favorite, I strongly recommend this book/series. 

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

4.5 stars


Husband/wife duo J.C. Eaton have knocked it out of the park again with this new installment Botched 4 Murder in the Sophie Kimball mystery series!

Phee gets roped into investigating the murder of a local senior woman who was pushing for getting rid of golf courses in exchange for eco-friendly parks. Phee’s mother and her book club friends push her into helping investigate. She soon finds herself in trouble.

I just loved this book, it had so many suspects, and I wasn’t able to figure out who the murderer was! It was so much fun with its cast of quirky characters. I love a good clean, interesting cozy mystery that is intriguing without resorting to sex or vulgarities.

I cannot wait to read the next book in this series. I highly recommend this book!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. The views given are my own. #Botched4Murder #NetGalley #KensingtonBooks

An enjoyable addition to a charming series. Senior citizens at their feistiest. The protagonist is not a senior citizen, but because of her mother she is quite involved in their lives. The murder mystery kept me guessing. Some surprises along the way.

Botched 4 Murder by J.C. Eaton is a captivating and fun tale of Sophie Kimball solving the murder of a local board member with help from her mother aka the woman who is the center for all gossip in Sun City West, Arizona, the bocce ball team, the book club, and of course the private detective firm she where she works. It has a dash of thriller and romance thrown in with humor, making this not-so-cozy murder mystery a hard book to put down. Who knew board meetings and bocce ball could be so exciting. I enjoyed the characters and their interactions and even though I came into the Sophie Kimball series late, J.C. Eaton does a wonderful job of explaining backstories. The details J.C. Eaton uses for describing the scenery and the background knowledge engages the reader further. If you’re looking for an engaging mystery to nestle up and read, this is it.

This book was fun to read and entertaining.
I loved the quirky characters and the style of writing.
The mystery was good, no plot hole, and kept me guessing till the end.
I look forward to reading other books by this writer.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for this ARC

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me with an advanced digital read copy of Botched 4 Murder by J. C. Eaton. If you like a cozy mystery with a strong element of humor, this may be the book for you. Filled with tongue in cheek dialog from the senior citizens who inhabit Sun City West, the book offers a sometimes satirical, and others more humorous look at what it’s like to live in a retirement community.
There is a cozy mystery here, although Sophie (Phee) Kimball stumbles on much of the information rather than reaching it by logically assessing a set of clues and red herrings. There is a strong presence provided by the secondary character of Phee’s mother along with her friends who make up the Booked 4 Murder book club who are constantly spurring Phee on to solve the murder and save their community from having their golf courses turned into eco-friendly parks.
Phee, who is the bookkeeper for a detective agency, runs around the area investigating, largely at the behest of her mother and out of a belief that her mother will continue to insist until Phee caves in and does what she is being urged to do. Many of the secondary characters are almost caricatures of residents one might expect to find in a retirement community such as those that dot the state of Arizona. The humorous/sarcastic look at what fills the days of retired senior citizens becomes somewhat repetitive as the book continues, although it will likely appeal to a segment of readers, particularly those who may find some of themselves or their anticipated circumstances depicted in the novel.
There is limited opportunity for the reader to correctly solve the puzzle as much of the information needed to reach the right conclusion isn’t provided until almost the end of the book. For those who are more interested in a book filled with laughter and senior citizens than solid investigative work, this book may have a strong appeal. It is a classic cozy in that Phee is not a trained investigator, although she works for an investigative firm. While there are two murders which initially seem unrelated, descriptions of how the victims die are kept to a minimum in the classic cozy style.

This book is almost all dialogue, and some dialogue is always good, but here it's just too much talk. The label says the book is funny, but I find it mildly amusing at best, and it's basically old people's behavior all the time. Working my way through all those words, however, I found the plot and story to be quite good. So, if you have a little time to waste, this is a good book for you.

Cozy Arizona Golf Course Murder Mystery
This is a humorous cozy murder mystery that takes place in a retirement community outside of Phoenix. Our heroine is a bookkeeper at a detective agency where she is always getting sucked into cases. Her mother with her large group of friends is always around to feed the rumor mill and create havoc. There is always something to smile about and maybe laugh-out-loud about. The plot is great with plenty of motivation and suspects. The characters are believable and a bit quirky. This is the first book of this series that I have read and it stands alone quite well. Now, I want to go back and read the previous episodes. I received this ARC book for free and this is my honest review.

Sophie "Phee" Kimball is getting dragged into the drama again at her mom's Arizona retirement community. A new board member wants to get rid of two golf courses and replace them with eco-friendly parks, and some of the residents are pretty teed off about it. On top of that, her mother's book club friend Myrna is being pushed out of the bocce league. These seniors are serious about winning, and Myrna's dragging them down. She's so bad at bocce, in fact, that when a community mem.ber's dead body is discovered while Myrna's practicing for a tournament, she assumes it was one of her own errant balls that killed the woman.

But before Myrna can be tossed off the boccie court and into criminal court, the police find an arrow in the victim's neck. It looks like this was no accident--and Phee and her investigator boyfriend Marshall will have to team up to bounce a killer into the slammer .

J.C. Eaton created a story full of energy. A buzzing senior community that works together to save their area. A young woman and her boyfriend are dragged into the center of the case and issue at hand. Phee's mother won't let her daughter and boyfriend be in peace. She is always finding a way to get them to help her and her friends. I found plenty of humor on these pages as well as mystery. The characters felt real. I can just see Phee rolling her eyes and groaning everything she spots her mother and the other seniors. Overall, good story and a plot full of action.

Botched 4 Murder is the fourth book in J.C. Eaton’s (the husband and wife writing team of Ann I. Goldfarb and James E. Clapp) Sophie Kimball Mystery series and is a well-written, steady paced and humorous whodunit, with well-developed, likable, and often quirky characters. This is a fun and fast read, with enough suspects, twists and turns, and red herrings to keep the reader engaged and guessing.

Sophie ‘Phee’ Kimball is a divorced, middle-aged mother of an adult daughter, who moved from Mankato, Minnesota to Peoria, Arizona. She’s the bookkeeper for her friend, Nate Williams’, private investigation firm. Nate was a Mankato PD detective, and recently hired another investigator, Marshall Gregory, who also worked for Mankato PD. Phee always liked Marshall, and since he relocated to Arizona, they’re pursuing a relationship. Her mother, Harriet Plunkett, lives in a retirement community in Sun City West, Arizona with her Chiweenie dog, Streetman, and belongs to a book club, Booked 4 Murder. The homeowners in the retirement community of Sun City West are upset about Sorrel Harlan’s proposal to turn two of the golf courses into eco-friendly parks. Sorrel was recently appointed to the recreation center’s board of directors, and after a heated meeting, her body is found on the golf course with an arrow in her neck during the bocce ball practice session. Phee originally learned about the incident when she received a frantic call from her mother saying her friend, Myrna Mittleson, believed she killed someone when one of her balls went off course and was found next to a body on a golf course. The sheriff’s department hires Williams Investigations to help with the case, and even though Phee has no investigative experience, she enjoys being involved in investigations, and Harriet, who can be a handful, believes she’s the only person who can solve a mystery. Phee learns Sorrel wasn’t the most-loved person and often tried to force her odd concepts on others. While on the community gardens’ committee, she announced she wanted the garden club to give small plots of land to the homeless so they could grow their own food even though it meant they’d need to be transported to and from Sun City West and be provided with the proper tools.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

Eco-parks versus golf courses shouldn't lead to murder but it does when Sorrel, one of the advocates for the former, is found dead with an arrow (!) in her neck! Phee and Marshall are back on the hunt for the bad guy (or woman) in this latest installment in a fun cozy series set largely in an Arizona retirement community. They know Myrna, one of the prime suspects, is bad at bocce and mad about the possible switch but they also know she didn't do it. Phee's a good character who has more patience, especially with her mom, than many of us might, and she's got a good sense of humor as well. There are some twists and while you might figure out what happened before Phee does, you'll enjoy this all the way. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Looking forward to the next one!

Phew comes to the rescue of the Sun City West residents again. I’m wondering when she will get her PI license since the retirement community just won’t let her be the bookkeeper to the PIs. Marshall is a great boyfriend and Nate a terrific boss. I look forward to each book in the series although by now I’d probably of done something to Harriet if she was my mother, at the very least I’d never take her calls. But hey, have to have one character you love to hate and who gets the main character involved in the mysteries.

I thank the publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for my honest review. I look forward to Phee’s and Marshal’s relationship being developed.

Botched 4 Murder by J.C. Eaton is the fourth book of the cozy Sophie Kimball Mystery series. Each book of the series features it’s own mystery that needs to be solved so the books could be understood out of order or on their own. However, there’s always a bit of character story that carries over from book to book so it’s best read in order.

In this series Sophie “Phee” Kimball had been working in accounting at a police department in Minnesota when her retired mother thought Phee would be the perfect person to come to Arizona to investigate when several suspicious deaths happened at her retirement community.

After her first trip out to Arizona Phee decided to make the move and took a job working for a detective friend but to Phee’s mother that still made her perfect to investigate whenever anything out of the ordinary comes along for the ladies in the retirement community. This time a murder victim is found during the bocce ball practice session and with the community riled up over proposal to turn the golf courses into public parks Phee needs to get to the bottom of things once again.

I have been enjoying the Sophie Kimball Mystery series since it’s beginning and will continue to look for new editions. With a bit of everything I personally love in a cozy this has become a favorite. There’s the quirky and funny vibe the side characters give, the main character with a connection to law enforcement and plenty of twists and turns to the mysteries. I knew I had a winner when I started wishing my own mother would retire to Sun City so I could follow along although I think a bit of crime watch is needed so there wouldn’t be so many murders to solve!

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Botched 4 Murder is a quirky fast paced mystery that was enjoyable to read. I would love to read more from this author.

I liked this book. I liked that the main character is being dragged into investigating and that all the complexation of a normal investigation is gone through. Sometimes cozy mysteries forget the real world and make solving the mysteries look easy. Nothing is easy about this book. It moved along quickly, I didn't notice any slow spots. I'll definitely look forward to the next book in the series. #Botched4murder #NetGalley

A story with lots of twists. Great characters with interesting quirks. Can a daughter keep out of trouble as her mother keeps insisting she needs to help her friends. She finds herself involved in solving not one but two murders. All in her daughter duties.

Good hearted, interesting bunch of intelligent yet quirky characters make a great team. Involved plot with closure

Phee is back in Botched 4 Murder.
The entire town is upset about the idea to turn the golf courses into parks.
When the group is practicing Bocce ball, a grim discovery is made, which makes matters even worse.
This is a fun filled, fast paced story that will keep the reader guessing until the reveal.
I volunteered to read and review an ARC of this book provided by the publisher and NetGalley.

Phee Kimble moved to Arizona to get away from the cold winters of Minnesota…too bad it brought her back to her Mother’s doorstep and retirement community. it seems there’s ALWAYS something going on in Sun City West, and her Mother expects Phee to figure it out.

This time a board member is found murdered and the residents of Sun City West are all suspects. While Phee is just the accountant/book keeper at Williams Investigation Agency, she seems to be the one that has the knack of getting people to open up to her and that provides her with clues that help her boss and boyfriend solve the case!

With the author’s style of banter for Phee, she reminds me of a mature version of Stephanie Plum. Witty and sarcastic at times, the book flows and you’ll find plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing until close to the reveal!

It was with pleasure when I started the book and it did not disappoint. It contains funny scene as usual. The fourth book finds the residents of Sun City West in an uproar over the proposal of turning two of golf parks into eco-friendly friendly parks. The Bocce league is planning to enter a contest and Myrna playing is poor and someone her off the team. Practicing for the contest and Myrna Hobbs a ball ones onto the golf park. The ball was thought to kill the person it was found near. Later examination finds a narrow threw the neck. Phee's Mother insists that Phee looks into the .after to help Myrna. Marshall, Phee boyfriend comes to the planning board meetings about the eco-friendly parks. Why was the person kill? Can Phee solve the crime before she loses her life? I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AND SERIES. Recipes are included.

Disclosure: Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for a review copy. The opinions expressed are my own.