Oh dear, cozy enthusiasts we aren't in Kansas anymore and the local theater production director has everyone wondering when a house is going to land on the once famous TV celebrity, Magnolia Sweet. No yellow brick roads here, but there is some delicious sounding lemon loaf. I am thoroughly convinced that it is not a Briton Bay cozy unless there is lemon loaf mentioned. In addition to the lovely lemon loaf the usual cast of characters do their part to further this wonderful series while Molly and Sam do their best to help the local high school janitor who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sam and Chris refuse to believe that he had anything to do with foul play and acting Sheriff Chris goes as far as to "wink, wink, nod, nod," ask Molly to get involved but only in the safest of ways. It seems like no one really had a good relationship with her as we are led clue by clue from red herring to red herring. You will surely enjoy this latest Briton Bay cozy, my pretty and Molly's little dog (Tigger), too.

I am truly thrilled with this new author for me! A very entertaining read, a young editor, Molly, her group of close friends, and her sexy boyfriend Sam, all pitch in to solve a murder of a very rude, obnoxious woman! I cannot wait until the next book, which tells you how much I enjoyed this one, my problem was trying to choose between hunky Chris, or sexy Sam!
I highly recommend! Thank you Netgalley!
carolintallahassee.com

Local Theater Brings Drama and Death
This cozy mystery takes place in a small, Oregon coastal town. Our intrepid newspaper editor seems to collect mysteries to solve everywhere she goes. This time it is in the local theater. The mystery is very good with a surprise ending. The side stories are endearing and fun to read. While I have read the entire series, each episode can be read out of order with only a couple of romantic type issues. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

Who is Molly? What does she do for a living? Where do we find her and why? Who are Judd, Magnolia, Dean, Calliope, Sam, Chris, and Callie? What do we learn? What does each of these folks do for a living? How those jobs play into this story is rather fun to read. Why do Jeffrey and Vivien come to town? What shocking thing do we learn about Beau Harrison? I was floored! I did not see coming what came as to who was behind the murder. Talk about hitting me out of the blue! I look forward to seeing what else happens in this Britton Bay Mystery series. I need to read more!

This was a very cute cozy mystery. The main character is extremely likable and the author followed a successful outline that makes up a good cozy mystery. The book did have its cheesy moments and a bit more romance than I’m used to but it was all quite sweet. I believe this series will have a really good following in the future.

Deadly Drama has editor-in-chief Molly Owens back to being a sleuth trying to discover a murderer’s identify. Jody Holford’s character is such a charming normal person that she is easy to love. Still with Sam and living near her mother in the picturesque Oregon coastal town of Britton Bay, she is a person you would want as a friend. The murder victim, well, let’s just say, not so much.

While there is still the romance going with Sam the focus of the story is the mystery. This is a cozy mystery with a character that is becoming stronger with each book. As she takes over the community theater directorship she is also trying to solve the mystery. With several red herrings it is not an easy solve. I didn’t guess a head of time before Molly actually figured it out. The clues were there looking back on the story but very subtly given. I enjoy when the identity is not so easier guessed as it was this time.

Deadly Drama is book four in the series. To get to see the development of Molly, you may want to read the books in order but it is not necessary to simply enjoy this cozy mystery.

An ARC of the book was given to me by the publisher through Net Galley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Deadly Drama by Jody Holford is a cozy mystery. It’s the fourth book of the Britton Bay series and it’s about a newspaper editor who is trying to solve a murder mystery.

It’s a well-written book with great detailing that allows you to picture the scenery of this beautiful little town and the crime scenes. The plot will have you hooked from the beginning and you won’t stop turning the pages until the very last page. It is steadily
paced with a great choice of characters. The writer’s writing style will make you think that you are there observing everything first hand.
The mystery is the center part of the story but there is a little bit of romance as well. What I loved about it is that almost all the characters are like a family and help each other. My favorite parts were when Molly was interrogating the suspects.
About the story: Molly Owens was the editor-in-chief of the Britton Bay Bulletin. They wanted to interview Magnolia Sweet, a former Hollywood star who was the director of the spring play in Britton Bay. Magnolia was a bitter person who was liked by anyone and had made several enemies. Molly had the bad luck of being in the wrong place the wrong time, and she was one of the people who found the star dead. When her friend announced that the former star was murder and that the person who was accused was innocent, she made it her mission to find the real killer.

In conclusion, Deadly Drama is a wonderful book that I highly recommend to all the lovers of this genre. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I will rate it with 5 stars.

Jody Holford returns to the small town of Britton Bay with Deadly Drama. I liked getting to jump back into this cozy mystery series.

Molly is the editor-in-chief at the local newspaper and keeps finding mysteries to solve. This time it is the death of Magnolia, a former soap opera actress who is participating in the Britton Bay Community Theater production.

The author does a nice job with making the mystery interesting with just enough twists to keep readers guessing. The small town charm of Britton Bay also shines through and I liked getting more of Molly's relationship with her boyfriend, Sam.

I have not read earlier books in this series and had no trouble following along so definitely could be read as a standalone. Quickly learned about the inhabitants of Britton Bay and they were wonderful characters who added much to the read.

The victim was not well liked so there were many possibilities of who the murderer could have been.

The author did a great job of leading you down various paths, so much so that I would never have guessed who the murderer was.

There was a time when the protagonist was a bit TSTL but it added drama to the denouement. And I enjoyed the romance between her and Sam. I plan to read the earlier installments to see how that grew. and to learn more about the characters.

I highly recommend this book.

My thanks to Kensington and Netgalley for providing an ARC. Any opinions expressed are my own.

BlueSeal's Review of Deadly Drama

Deadly Drama is the fourth book in Jody Holford’s A Britton Bay Mystery series.  Each book is a standalone but the series follows the life and adventures of a former army brat turned small-town journalist, Molly Owens.  Grab your coffee and let’s chat about Deady Drama by Jody Holford.


Molly Owen lives in the picturesque seaside town of Britton Bay on the Oregon Coast.  Molly’s move to the small town in Oregon has proven to be just the change that she needed.  She is the editor-in-chief of the Britton Bay Bulletin, she has a hunky boyfriend, and great friends but trouble seems to follow her.  People are falling dead at her feet and Molly finds it very hard to ignore her investigative tendencies.  


This is the first book of the series that I have read and I was very excited about this book but unfortunately, by the end of chapter one, I was ready to give up on it.  The book reminded me of a modern-day Murder She Wrote with Molly being a young Angela Landsbury.  Molly is a well-developed character and I enjoyed reading about her misadventures but found myself a little bored as the story just moved so slowly.  I typically love a good mystery so once I started the book, I had to finish it.  I wanted to LOVE this book but only found it to be average.


My rating of Deadly Drama by Jody Holford...3 out of 5 propellers.

A small and idyllic city that makes people want to know - or maybe - even want to live, where the residents know each other and the news is not kept secret for a long time.
Molly is an editor-in-chief and reporter, so when there is an opportunity to interview the director of a theatrical production, just like the great former soap opera actress Magnolia, Molly feels it would be wonderful.
Magnolia is a character you don't like at first sight and when she appears dead... Well, you can't feel sorry.
But hey! Let's go to the mystery.
Who would have reason to kill Magnolia?
Mystery and romance for fun.
4 stars

Deadly Drama by Jody Holford, published by Kensington Publishing Corp, is book four in her Britton Bay Mystery Series. and features Molly.
Molly Owens is the editor-in-chief of the towns newspaper and she's about to stumble over another cozy mustery, set in Britton Bay, Oregon.
I started reading and it was like coming home. I fell in love with the characters and the beautiful writing, as well as the storyline. I liked the twists and turns, the pace of the story and the plottwists.
A great read, 4,5 stars.

Deadly Drama seems to be both mystery and romance. Molly and Sam’s love shines brightly through the woven threads of the story. It works for this story where in most cozy mysteries such overt romance is uncommon. The author does a good job of bringing these different threads together. This is a very character driven book.
I was really enjoying the whole story and then Molly goes and does some silly, life threatening things. Remorse afterwards doesn’t seem like a life lengthening exercise. Details would compromise the story so may I simply say Molly needs to learn when to let the police do their job.
The climax was jarring after the previous events in the book. It subtracts one star from what is otherwise a fantastic read.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review a digital galley.

An excellent cozy mystery that kept me hooked. It was great to meet again the fleshed out characters and the solid mystery kept me guessing.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Deadly Drama is such a fun cute read. I love that Molly, Sam and Tigger are all back. Molly and Sam just have this sweet romance and it is fun watching it grow more stronger with each book. Molly has this knack of stumbling into danger and knows the drill by now. You see Molly growing more and more with each book. She is finally feeling at home in Britton Bay and her friendships are growing stronger and stronger. I love Molly and Sam. Sam is so supportive of Molly in everything even the sleuthing she gets into accidently. Every mystery pulls you in from the start as Molly digs into why the theater director was killed. I really can't wait to find out what the next mystery Molly is to solve next.

Molly, the editor and writer of the Britton Bay Bulletin, is excited about a community theater production but not so much about the director Magnolia Sweet, who surely isn't. Molly's helping out with the behind the scenes stuff, in part so she can get an interview with Magnolia. Just when she thinks she's got it, she finds Magnolia dead- murdered! Turns out, as cozy readers know, Magnolia was nasty to many people, not only when she worked on a soap opera but also to pretty much everyone. Chris, a police detective and the BFF of Molly's love interest Sam, is for once okay with her snooping. I'm not usually a fan of the theater cozy but this one was fun, mostly because of Molly, who's a treat. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A fun one that will be fine as a standalone.

Wow. Molly really stepped in it this time. As usual our lovable newspaper editor has found a story she can't stay out of. When and old soap star directs the local theater production she stirs up a whole lot of trouble. The list of suspects seems unending but when the one person no one expected is arrested Molly decides she need to look into things to keep an innocent man from going to prison. Thus ensues a wonderful story of love and mystery. P. S. I also really like Sam and Molly together, they make a wonderful couple.

Overall a good cozy mystery, but admit at times my mind wandered and skimmed a bit in the story. Easy read though and would recommend.

Boy, this author really knows how to write a romantic mystery! Deadly Drama is book four in the Britton Bay Mystery series, and I think this one is my favorite. Sam and Molly are front and center in this fast paced who done it mystery, and I will tell you, I thought I had the killer pegged but was totally turned on my ear on who actually did it. Loved Chris and Sarah in this story, can’t wait to get The rest of their story in my hands, and gotta wonder how Gavin and Bella will turn out. Lots of twists and turns in this one, very well written and keeps you guessing throughout the entire book. Tigger is absolutely adorable and I’m looking forward to hearing about the new addition. If you loved the first three books you’re going to love this one, very well worth the read.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC copy of this book

A beautiful setting, strong characters, a little romance and a good mystery made this book a delight to read.
A wonderful read for a 'cozy' afternoon.