A delightful new addition to the cozy mystery genre - filled with family, good friends and a beautiful small town setting in Southern Indiana. Allie Cobb has followed in the footsteps of her father and become a literary agent. She moved from her hometown of Rushing Creek to New York but has returned home for her father's funeral. She reconnects with her best friend, Sloane, who is the daughter of Thornwell Winchester, a best selling author who was her father's friend and client. When Thornwell is murdered and the police at first suspect Sloane, Allie promises to investigate and clear her friend. With a variety of suspects, interesting characters, a touch of romance and a fast moving plot, this is an excellent beginning to what I hope will become a long running series.

Allie Cobb returns to her home town of Rushing Creek, Indiana following the death of her father. She's there to attend the funeral and wind up his literary agency. After that, she's going back to New York.
At least, that's the plan.

Being the one who went away to pursue a career means that there's a rift between her and her siblings - some of it is in her head, some of it isn't. Coming back to where you grew up is complicated. Then, when her best friend's father is found dead, things get even more tangled.

This is a classic cosy mystery, where the story is more about the characters and their community than the murder itself. This is the start of a series and Rushing Creek has plenty of interesting characters to populate the stories. I liked Allie and her family (including the cat). There's an interesting potential love interest (oh yeah!). The mystery was interesting, with a few red herrings and some very interesting suspects. The only quibble was that Allie did that thing where she voluntarily went to confront the murderer by herself, which was silly. Take backup. Always take backup! But it all worked out in the end, so that's okay.

This was a lovely, entertaining read. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series already.

A new author for me and the first book in a new series. Allie Cobb has been living and working as a literary agent in New York City. Her Father, a noted Literary agent has passed away from normal causes. Allie with her rescue cat, Ursula returns home for his funeral. Her Father's outstanding author is found dead in a nearby river. His daughter is Allie best friend, Sloane is the main suspect in her Father's MURDER. Allie decided to clear her friend name. The Police Chief ex-wife is one of Allie's sisters. Working to help the understaffed police force, Allie is involved with the probe of the case. The ending is satisfactory and I am looking forward to the next book. I recommend this book.

Disclosure: Many to NetGalley and Lyrical Underground for a review copy. The opinions expressed are my own.

I think this is solid footing for a cozy mystery series. The setting, characters and relationships are nicely set up to continue this adventure for many books to come.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was not paid for this review.

For a super book need like me, this was a great read. A death of a well respected author throws Alli's already crazy life intro overdrive while she is home after her father, a well known publisher, dies. Lots of literary and publishing references!

I have been looking forward to this book for awhile now – ever since I had the pleasure of sitting down to interview the author at Malice Domestic. I really enjoyed Allie as a protagonist. She was relatable – broken, yet strong. I love that you can see how her deceased father (her hero) continues to shape her life, even after his death. The story was fast-paced and I found myself saying, “just one more page” many times as devoured the book in about 48 hours. A strong cozy mystery debut for JC Kenney. I can’t wait to see where he takes Allie next!

A classic cozy mystery, A LITERAL MESS begins as Allie Cobb returns to her home town in Indiana under tragic circumstances: the loss of a loved one. Allie and her family are immediately sympathetic and likable, and Kenney eases us into the story with a strong protagonist and supporting cast.

Of course things kick into gear quickly, as a prominent citizen is murdered, and the town is thrown into turmoil. Kenney hits all the right cozy mystery notes in this solid debut novel, and red herrings and potential romantic interests keep the story moving at an engaging pace.

Overall, it's a terrific read, and I'm happy to see that Allie Cobb will be back in a sequel!

I thought this is a good book. It's interesting, engaging with all the characters, and a different storyline than most cozy mysteries. #ALiteralMess #NetGalley

I really enjoyed reading this book. I like Rushing Creek, Indiana. Ursula the cat and Sammy the golden retriever are my favorite characters. I liked learning about what literary agents do.

I received an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley for an honest review.

A Literal Mess by J. C. Kenney is the first in a new series featuring Allie Cobb, up and coming literary agent and, at least in this book, detective extraordinaire. This introductory novel offers the promise of a delightful cast of characters and a small town that could serve as an advertisement for anyone who is considering leaving the anonymity of a big city for a smaller town with the promise of a richer, more connected group of friends and acquaintances.
Of course, in the novel, there is a murder thrown in for good measure that gives Allie and her friends an opportunity to see justice served. There are enough people who are less likeable to give depth and add a touch of reality to the fictional town of Rushing Creek, Indiana. Plus, the description of the area makes it such that you might consider a trip to Indiana to welcome in the turning of the leaves, which is something I’ve never considered when thinking of Indiana.
The mystery itself is not hard to solve. There are some excellent clues as well as some well-placed red herrings although it isn’t obvious that the author is trying to lead you down the garden path. In the classic style of a cozy mystery, there is little emphasis on the murder itself and more time spent on developing a reason for Allie to investigate. She and the sheriff, who is her former brother-in-law reach an unspoken truce in an agreement to put the bad feelings generated by his divorce from Allie’s sister aside in order to solve the murder.
In addition to a protagonist who is easy to like, there are some likeable secondary characters including Allie’s best friend Sloane and her brother Luke. It is totally within the realm of possibility that these, as well as a few others, may be fixtures in future books and, if so, will provide a good opportunity to give more texture to Allie’s life and the setting in which she finds herself.
This isn’t a particularly deep book, nor is it filled with tension and suspense. Rather, it is the kind of book that will appeal to the individual who wants to spend some time reading as a way to relax. It would be a good beach or vacation read, one that could be put down and picked up as other activities dictate.

This story had all the right things in it to have been a really great mystery however I'm not sure why but unfortunately it just didnt quite hit the mark for me.
Perhaps it is because it is written in first person narrative (something that I struggle to enjoy reading except in rare cases).
I was confused by the personality of our narrator and her drive to stick her nose into police business when she didn't seem to be that type of person.
Maybe if she stumbled upon something really striking about the case and just had to follow it up - or if the police seemed to be completely inept/conspiring to cover something up it would have been a little more believable for her to be investigating it? Or if she didn't have the police just accept her nosiness (especially being that the officer was her brother in law with whom there was bad blood due to the divorce)

It wasn't terribly written but it just lacked lustre for me for a mystery.

2.5 stars

A first in a new series! While the premise of the story does sound like many other series, main character going back home and chaos starts, this author does a good job keeping the story and characters fresh. The story was easy to get lost in and really enjoyable. If you are looking for a new series to sink your teeth into, look no further.

I thoroughly enjoyed this first in a new series.
The characters and premise were engaging and the whodunit kept me guessing.
This book sets up a solid base for further books in the series to look forward to.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of the book.

The world of authors and literary agents is a fun setting to me, and this was a well-plotted light mystery with relatable characters. It would have been a 4, but I just can't stand it when otherwise intelligent main characters confront a dangerous killer, on their own, fully aware of the danger, for no particular reason other than impatience. Urrrrggggh.

Also, the idea that the police chief and his staff would enlist the help of a private citizen (especially the sister of the ex-wife of the chief) solve a murder is just ludicrous. I know cozies aren't meant to be hyper-realistic, but when it's outrageous enough to take me out of the story, I don't like that. When Allie says to her mom, about catching the killer, "I had a lot of help," indicating the police chief, I snorted my juice. At least she graciously amends that to "We had a lot of help."

So, a good light mystery if you can live with the above caveats!

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.