Juni Jessup is kinda like that somewhat annoying and yet endearing little sister that you wish would get her life in order. Although I want her to be more responsible and less immature, I also like jumping into her adventures with her. I enjoy the record store setting (though I'd like to see more made of that) and the Texas setting, too. And this book, with its tie-in to the Bluebonnet Festival, makes me determines to visit Hill Country in spring someday!

The two mysteries--the robbery decades ago and the current murder--are both resolved to my satisfaction. I do think the killer is too easy to forecast. But I enjoy this series about three sisters who are not much alike but always have each others' backs; music; and murder!

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

A Fatal Groove is the second book in this fun series, set in Cedar River, Texas. Sisters, Juni, Tansy, and Maggie own a coffee shop named Sip & Spin. Juni finds the mayor dead in his office with a Sip & Spin cup on his desk. When tests show he died from poisoning, her sister Tansy becomes the main suspect. Juni is determined to find the killer to clear her sisters name. This was a fun read, with plenty of humor, likeable characters. lots of red herrings, and even a cute cow. Many thanks to the publisher and netgalley for giving me this enjoyable ARC to read and review.

Juni and her sisters think they'll be able to grow their business by having a booth at the annual Bluebonnet Festival. When the mayor dies after drinking their coffee, though, they have to investigate before they lose the record/coffee shop they've worked so hard to get going.

Years ago, there was a bank robbery during the festival. The thieves were killed, and the money was never recovered. The mayor collected memorabilia from the robbery, and Juni wonders if that was the motive. People are still looking for the money, and Juni and Tansy's house gets broken into.

Juni also still can't decide between thoughtful, dependable Teddy, and fickle, manipulative Beau. (I'm pro-Teddy, in case you couldn't tell.)

I'm rooting for Juni and her sisters to succeed in their shop. They have a great relationship, and each has a well-defined personality. The town of Cedar River and its inhabitants feels real, and readers will want to visit.

There are enough possible motives and murder suspects to keep you guessing, and a good amount of clues to help you solve this. There's also a random cow, because Juni didn't have enough on her plate already.

4.0/5 stars. Recommended

I received an advance copy from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Juni and her sisters are back again with this latest book. It's time for the Bluebonnet festival and Juni find Mayor Bob dead. Because he was drinking coffee from their record store/coffee shop Tansy is under suspicion. Who killed Mayor Bob. Did this have anything to do with the bank heist a long time ago? You will have to read it to find out

This is a delightful book and series. The writing is witty and I like the character development. While this is a series you can read this as a sand alone book.

I look forward to other books in the series.

This is the second book in the Record Shop Mystery series. I actually liked this one more than the first book( Vinyl Resting Place) and that’s saying a lot since between the characters, the location, and the murder, I was hooked by the first book. I’m just going to get this out of the way, but I love the coffee drink names that Juni comes up with. So creative and every drink makes me think, why didn’t I think of that! Back to the book.
Juni and her sisters, Tansy and Maggie are still trying to make their record store/coffee bar a success. Everything in Cedar River is closed this weekend for the annual Bluebonnet Festival. Juni, heads back to the shop and makes a special coffee for the mayor. But he never gets to try it because when she delivers it, he’s dead. Yep, Juni found another dead body!
Besides, figuring out who killed the mayor there is a long ago bank robbery to solve. Juni also still has two men to choose between, Beau and Teddy. I enjoyed the robbery mystery more than who killed the mayor, but only because who doesn’t want to find a whole pile of missing money.
I really like Juni. She still trying to figure out her life, but I love how devoted she is to recycling, riding a bike, her relationship with her sisters, and, of course, the fact that she’s better than the police at figuring out murders. Until we meet again, try and stay out of trouble and away from dead bodies!

A Fatal Groove is book 2 in the Record Shop Mystery series by Olivia Blacke.
I loved being back in Cedar River, Texas with Juni Jessup and her two sisters.
A fantastic second book to a promising new cosy series, A Fatal Groove is an intriguing mystery rife with twists and a family-centered mystery.
I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the characters therein.
This one was a lot of fun to read.
I love how the characters stay consistent to their own personalities as well.
The community was really close knit which is realistic in small communities and I enjoyed getting to know them.

Overall an addictive perfect mix of mystery, crime, suspense and quirkiness which kept me turning the pages late at night!! An explosive book to a new series!!!

I had the chance to read and review Vinyl Resting Place book one last year and immediately loved this exciting new series. If you haven’t read it yet, you have got to pick it up. Amazing.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Vinyl records, coffee, family, love triangle, and murder. What's not to love about this series - The Record Shop Mysteries.
This can be read as a standalone, but trust me you'll want to read them all.

Juni, with her sisters - Tansey and Maggie - own Sip n Spin a coffee and record shop (that in my opinion should be an actual place not fictional). Anyway, the shop is doing pretty well until Juni finds Mayor Bob dead in his office, murdered, and it looks like it was by the coffee that he got from Sip n Spin that Tansey made. As in small towns, word travels fast and the people start avoiding the shop. With Tansey being accused of the murder, the sisters start their own investigation to find the real murderer and save their shop.

So, put on a record, grab some coffee, and read A Fatal Groove. You won't be disappointed.


#NetGalley #StMartinsPress #AFatalGroove

There was a lot to like about this book, from the relationship between Juni and her sisters to the music-themed drinks of the day. The main mystery was interesting, with plenty of twists and a...mostly satisfying ending. I had trouble buying the logistics of how the murder was carried out. Without spoilers--it seems like the victim should have been able to avoid his death if he'd been paying any attention.

The secondary mystery was great! I really liked hearing all about the bank robbery and the town's history. But then the resolution bummed me out, too. It's good. It actually makes sense--I just wanted better for Juni.

I'm not feeling the love triangle. I wish Juni would pick someone. I don't even particularly care who, which might be part of the problem. They're both great. Either would be a good love interest alone, but I don't need both of them.

When the mayor of Cedar River, Texas turns up dead holding a cup of coffee from their record shop, Juni and her sisters need to investigate. To complicate matters, the town is holding its annual Bluebonnet festival and, there’s a treasure hunt on for the missing money from a 50 year old bank robbery.

The characters are well written and just a bit quirky. I enjoyed the music references, and the combination of both a current murder and a cold case mystery.

Juni Jessup and her sisters are back to their sleuthing ways when the mayor is found dead in his office during the annual bluebonnet festival. Is the murder related to a decades old story about hidden treasure or something more personal? Can't wait for the next installment!

This fun cozy mystery is second in the series, but it could be read as a standalone novel. The characters are enjoyable and realistic. Buttercup, a cow, was a cute addition! There's a love triangle, but, thankfully, it's not an overpowering element to the story. There are enough twists and turns to keep the reader engaged and sleuthing along.

Another winner in this second installment in the Record Shop Mysteries series.

I love the characters, especially the three sisters who run the small town Texas vinyl record store and coffee shop and also the two love interests (the cop and the mailman) for Juni, the youngest sister.

Besides the interesting characters, this had an interesting plot, someone who is murdered after drinking a coffee from the sisters' coffee shop. In this one, I also loved how a long-ago bank robbery from the mid 1950's factored into the story.

A terrific cozy series and one I'd highly recommend!!

The annual Bluebonnet Festival in Cedar River, Texas, brings visitors from all over the world, and the Jessup sisters are hoping to relax and enjoy the festival along with everyone else. But when a body is found and one of the sisters is at the top of the list of suspects, Juni sets out to prove her sister’s innocence – and finding the treasure reportedly buried following a bank heist several years ago would be an added bonus.

This is the second book in this series, and I enjoyed it as much as the first one. The town of Cedar River sounds like the small town settings of many other cozy mysteries, where everybody knows everyone else’s business. But without that aspect, it would be much harder to gather the information needed to solve the mysteries in these books :) I like the sisters and how they put family first, but sometimes it’s a bit overwhelming. I tried to find out if Juni’s beloved adult tricycle would be street legal in Texas, but didn’t feel like digging through pages of legalese to figure it out. For some reason, her dependence on that mode of transportation annoyed me, possibly because I’m not sure of its legality?

There were several serious suspects to consider in this book, and I had a hard time deciding who I wanted to be the killer. As clues were discovered, the list was narrowed down, but I still wasn’t sure who the culprit was until just before it was revealed in the book.

I’ve marked my calendar to start looking for the next book in this series sometime early next summer :)

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the characters, they are really well done. I was worried that it would mostly be about records and the record store but it was. It has a cute cow even. I’m glad that they also found the treasure at the end. #AFatalGroove #NetGalley

What a wonderful new cozy series this is! The first book was so strong I knew I’d be reading more. To start, I really love that our heroine has siblings. The sister’s relationship is definitely one of the highlights. Cozy leads usually rely on friendships so I appreciate this is a family. The Texas town is everything you want it to be, charming, quirky & full of interesting people (suspects). The Jessup sisters are clever, funny & readers will be able to relate to at least one of them I’m sure. Are you a Tansy, Maggie or Juni?

This time around we get a murdered mayor, right before the towns big festival & even the chance of buried treasure. There’s the right amount of suspects & possible motives to keep you entertained. Juni’s love triangle is also of interest, I’m not quite sure who she’ll pick. This has the perfect summer vibes & I feel would be an ideal beach read this season. I can’t wait for the third book!

local-law-enforcement, Texas, small-business, small-town, family-business, family, amateur-sleuth, situational-humor, family-dynamics, cozy-mystery, relatives, relationships, gossip, murder, murder-investigation, lawyers, rural, festivals, sisters, bank-robbery*****

Juni is the main character and is a former software developer who returned to live near her roots and the family business promoting vinyl records and adding a coffee shop after her father died. One sister is married to a lawyer, and that's useful as this is the second time Juni has found a dead body. In gossip central. Juni still has interests in the local police detective who was her love during high school. Good whodunit with lots of laughs! Not an unbiased review because I loved the first in series.
I requested and received an EARC from St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Paperbacks via NetGalley. Thank you!

A Fatal Groove by Olivia Blacke is the second in the Record Shop Mysteries and the Jessop sisters are back. Sip & Spin's fairly new reputation is at stake when Tansy serves Mayor Bob a cup of coffee that is found at his desk when Juni stops town hall and finds him dead. Determined to clear her sister and their fledgling business's names, Juni butts heads with Sheriff Beau as she conducts her own investigation with sisters Maggie and Tansy. Could it be their mother's new boyfriend, used car dealer Marcus Best, who has teamed up with Uncle Calvin to beat Mayor Bob to finding missing money from a long ago bank robbery? Or Jen or Leanna, who are rivals to Juni and Tansy?

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This second in a series of cozy mysteries about a record store/coffee shop in small town Texas is another decent mystery with an annoying love triangle. I like Juni but I hate that she can't choose between Beau and Teddy, and her uncle Calvin continues to be the worst. I found the mystery satisfying, but the fact that Juni lets the book's annoying characters run over her makes it frustrating to read at times.

Juni Jessup and her sisters, Tansy and Maggie are hosting a booth at the Bluebonnet Festival, hoping to drum up business for their Sip & Spin Records store. When Juni discovers the body of the mayor in his office, he is holding a Sip & Spin coffee cup. Unfortunately, Tansy was the one who prepared the coffee and now becomes a suspect. Does the mayor's death have to do with a recent
real estate transaction or is tied to the buried money from the 1956 bank robbery?
Juni and her sisters set out to clear Tansy and save the shop.
 #AFatalGroove #NetGalley

I absolutely adore Olivia's style, she does not miss! I loved coming back to Sip & Spin and having another mystery with our cast of characters. This one was super interesting and I had a lot of fun trying to solve it with them.