The third book in the Keepsake Cove Mystery series by Mary Ellen Hughes can be read as part of the series or a standalone. In the beginning of the series, Callie Reed is visiting her aunt in Keepsake Cove where she owned a collectable store that focuses on music boxes. But not long after Callie arrived, her aunt was found murdered. After the murder is solved, Callie finds out she inherited the shop and decides to move to Keepsake Cove permanently.

Callie is settled into the community and her new life, and enjoying running the shop. It’s time for the Keepsake Cove spring festival, and this will be Callie’s first time attending. But when she learns her ex-boyfriend Hank will be there to perform at the festival with his band, Callie feels resigned to this putting a damper on her enjoyment of the festival. But all of that is put aside when Hank’s band manager is found murdered. Despite their rocky past, Callie is certain that Hank isn’t a murderer, and she sets out to help find the killer and clear his name.

Keepsake Cove is positively charming. Reading this series will make you wish it is a real place that you could visit. Perhaps I’ll find out I inherited a shop there? The cast of characters in this series is a delight, especially the other collectible shop owners. This mystery also had some fresh elements to it from the typical cozy mystery. I was surprised Callie was willing to put herself at risk to help an ex-boyfriend. I guess she is a better person than I am! There is also a side plot centered around Callie’s mother, who is having surgery and wants Callie to come to Portland to help out. Was it worth it for her to help Hank? Not in my opinion, but then we wouldn’t have a mystery!

Lots of humor and lightness in this mystery. I was sad to hear this is the last in the series! Midnight Cove was the publisher and they closed down permanently. It’s a bummer because they tended to publish a particularly unique set of mysteries that I enjoyed!

“A Curio Killing” by Mary Ellen Hughes is it delightful and captivating mystery that deserves every one of its five stars. Hughes Weaves a masterful tale filled with intrigue, suspense, and a charming small-town setting. The protagonist, Callie Reed, it's a relatable and engaging character whose curiosity and determination make her a joy to follow. The plot is intricately crafted, keeping readers guessing until the very end, and the attention to detail in the curio shop setting adds an extra layer of depth to the story. Hughes’ Writing style is engaging any mercy pulling you into the mystery and holding your attention throughout a curio killing is an absolute page Turner that will leave you eagerly anticipating the next installment in the Keepsake Cove mystery series.

I enjoyed this third installment of the series. Even though most might find Callie a bit forward and nosey, I feel that you really find this often in a Cozy mystery, after all that pretty normal for small towns.

What a great cozy mystery, loved it!!

In A Curio Killing, we find Callie living in Keepsake Cove when her ex-boyfriend is accused of murder. She has no intention of seeing him or being anywhere near him until his band manager is found dead.

Now, Callie must find the killer before it's too late.

A must read!!

A Curio Killing by Mary Ellen Hughes is the third book of the cozy Keepsake Cove Mystery series. Each book in the series is centered around it’s own mystery so they can be read as a standalone or in any order if choosing to do so. However there is some character building carried over from book to book for those who read from the beginning.

In the first book of the series Callie Reed had gone to visit her aunt Melodie in Keepsake Cove where her aunt owned a collectable music box store. However shortly after arriving Callie found her aunt murdered and with faint hints of help from a favorite music box Callie had to find a murderer.

Now Callie is settling into Keepsake Cove and running the shop she inherited from her aunt and settling into the community and it’s now time for the Keepsake Cove spring festival. Callie was excited for her first festival until she found out her ex, Hank, would be taking part with his band. However, when Hank’s band manager if found murdered Callie knows Hank couldn’t have been the killer regardless of all the faults Hank did have so Callie knows she once again must find a killer.

The Keepsake Cove Mystery series is another that I started at the beginning and have now read every book and really enjoyed them. When reading the first book of this series Keepsake Cove quickly became one of those charming little places that I wished I could visit with all of it’s specialty shops and cozy cottages. I really had grown fond of Callie along the way but it looks like this may be the last book of the series with the publisher now out of business and it looks as the author is now writing under another name, such a shame as it was a fun one.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I LOVE this author and the way she presents the characters, Keepsake Cove, it's shops, inhabitants and murderers. So many times in books, the author doesn't take the time to present the whole setting of the story. Hughes does a wonderful job of bringing the reader into it and you feel like a part of it. I love this little village and hope there will be many more installments.

Another great book by Mary Ellen Hughes! This the third in a series and I've enjoyed all of them.
Callie continues to run the music box shop left to her by her aunt. In this book she's looking forward to a community festival, until she finds out that the band hired for the event is her ex's band. After the initial shock, Callie enjoys the festival.... until a band member is murdered and her ex is accused.
I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

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Callie Reed's enthusiasm for the upcoming Keepsake Cove spring festival is only slightly dimmed when she learns that her ex's band will performing. When the band's manager is found dead, murdered with a music box from her shop, and Callie's ex is arrested...well, there's nothing she can do but try to prove him innocent.

This is a fun series and there's a lot in this book about the cove's different shop owners and the relationships between them. That's one of the things that make this series work so well , along with the fact that Callie is such a likable character. Plenty of potential suspects has me guessing and even though I ultimately guessed wrong, I loved the ending.

I loved this book as much as I loved the others in the series. I thought the writing was wonderful and the mystery was so well-crafted that I never guessed who the killer was. I can't wait to read the next one in the series!

Note: I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of this book from Netgalley.

It’s fun to pick up a book that draws you back into a setting and characters that you already know and feel comfortable with, as is the case with A Curio Killing, book #3 in the Keepsake Cove series. Mary Ellen Hughes delivers a well-crafted traditional cozy mystery that is sure to delight readers who enjoy this genre. If you’re new to this series, it works well as a standalone.

The fictional Maryland village of Keepsake Cove, with its quaint stores and kind people, is a collector’s dream. The shops are so enticing! Shops like Callie’s House of Melody (music boxes), Delia’s Shake It Up! (collectible salt & pepper shakers), Karl Egger’s Carlectibles (classic model cars), Bill & Laurie Hart’s Kids at Heart (vintage toy shop), and Pearl Poepelman’s Pearl’s Bangles and Beads.

With its quaint shops and seasonal festivals, Keepsake Cove is easy to visualize. Callie is a likeable lead character, easy to connect with. A Curio Killing is a seamless blend of setting, characters, and mystery. As the spring festival is about to begin, Hank, Callie’s ex, unexpectedly bursts on the scene and soon finds himself arrested for murder. In spite of all the grief Hank brought into Callie’s life in the past, the Hank she knew would never be guilty of murder and she feels obliged to prove his innocence.

Strong secondary characters add richness to the story – such as Callie’s suspense author friend, Lyssa, store clerk Tabitha, and romantic interest, Brian – with Delia’s reaching out to help her photographer friend, Jill, being one of my favorite parts. And, of course, there’s Grandpa Reed’s music box that starts playing at crucial times in Callie’s life.

I greatly enjoyed the previous two books in this series. But while A Curio Killing is well written and I loved spending time with these characters, I didn’t enjoy this story quite as much. This is purely personal, but I think it was because I didn’t care for Hank and felt that Callie defending him put her relationship with Brian at risk. Also, Tabitha’s quirky dress ensembles, where everyone tried to guess what famous or historical character she emulated each day, didn’t play as prominent a role in this story and I missed that. A Curio Killing is still a good read overall and I look forward to further stories in this series.

I received a copy of this book through Great Escapes Tours. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Callie is excited about the spring festival but much less thrilled that her ex-boyfriend Hank will be in town performing with a band. When the band manager is murdered and the clues point to Hank, he begs Callie to find the real killer. Callie is definitely more kind than I would be as she takes on the case. Callie finds out more than she cares to know about some of her fellow shopkeepers during the course of the investigation. The book had a good pace and kept me guessing until the end. It is another good addition to the series!

3.5 stars

The first thing you’ll love about A Curio Killing is the setting – the quaint Keepsake Cove and its collection of collectibles shops. Top of the list is Callie’s music box, House of Melody, complete with her grandfather’s old music box that chimes “oddly” at critical moments, almost as if to warn or encourage Callie (as the case might be).

Callie is a very likable heroine, and she’s surrounded by a bevy of equally likable supporting characters. Brian, her boyfriend, is steady and classy while also being a little swoony when needed. Tabitha, her assistant, is quirky and endearing all at the same time, though I missed a greater focus on her whimsical outfits this time around, with this fun aspect of her character & the series more in the background than they normally are. There’s also Delia and Lyssa (who I really like!) who provide great backup for Callie’s sleuthing – and are great friends in their own right.

The plot in A Curio Killing takes some intriguing twists with an ex-boyfriend of Callie’s on the one hand and a troubled friend of Delia’s on the other – and a host of other suspects in between. But, while I admire Callie’s gracious spirit to help clear her ex’s name, I felt that her singular focus on doing so put too many other good things at risk in her life. Between Hank and Brian there’s no comparison (Brian is a top-notch guy), and Callie should have been more considerate of her current boyfriend’s feelings, her store, and her own mother’s health instead of spending so much time in Hank’s defense. Her compassion toward him is, as I said, admirable but I don’t like Hank at all and I feel he was using her as he always has.

Bottom Line: A Curio Killing is well-paced and well-written, with a charming setting and a cast of truly likable characters (and a handful of truly unlikable ones, too, as is typical of the cozy genre). While this installment of the series may not be as quirky or endearing as the previous books, it still pulls you into the story even if just for Callie’s sake at times. The case is layered and the timing of new suspects/evidence and various twists and turns is spot on and keeps the pace steady. An interesting read that may have further unpleasant implications for Callie in future books (though I most sincerely hope not because I really like her character!).

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)

Unfortunately I only got a few chapters in due to there being missing letters and words in every sentence which made it very difficult to read. I know it is an advanced ready copy but it was impossible to enjoy the book as there were so many words and letters missing that I had to think about what they could be and then reread the sentences which was very off putting so i stopped reading

Thank you for providing me with an advanced reader copy.

A Curio Killing: A Keepsake Cove Mystery
By Mary Ellen Hughes
Midnight Ink
September 2019

Review by Cynthia Chow

In Maryland’s Keepsake Cove, visitors are delighted by specialty shops catering to every variety of collectors. Model cars, salt and pepper shakers, and vintage toys are just a few of the collectibles available to shoppers, and new resident Callie Reed is delighted to be among them. It’s barely been a year since Callie first came to Keepsake Cove, and now that she’s running her late aunt’s House of Melody music box shop Callie is eagerly anticipating her first Keepsake Cove Spring Festival. Callie has built a new life since fleeing her old one that came with a failing relationship, which is why seeing her ex-boyfriend in town is so unsettling. Hank’s country music band has been hired as one of the festival’s main performers, but it’s his manager Bobby Linville who seems to be stirring up the most drama in town. When he’s found bludgeoned to death by the music box Hank had just purchased from Callie, she feels obligated to once again delve into an investigation.

Confident that Hank could not have changed so much that he could be capable of murder, Callie begins looking into Bobby’s past and who may have wanted the abrasive music manager dead. Bobby stirred up a number of angry reactions from the Spring Festival attendees, with one of the most noticeable being from new photographer Jill Burns. The pressure for Callie to quickly exonerate Hank is amped up when her mother calls before her impending knee surgery, and Callie feels the guilt and need to be two places at once. So she’s rocked to her core when she learns that Hank has not been entirely honest about his past, compelling her to question her judgment even as she continues to pursue the truth.

Mary Ellen Hughes excels at creating delightful cozy mysteries that highlight crafts, romance, and humor. She populates Keepsake Cove with so many eclectic and charming collectible stores that envious readers will wish they could visit with a full wallet and empty storerooms. Callie herself is admirable in her pursuit of justice and sense of responsibility, especially when it comes to someone who once did her wrong. Luckily for Callie, she has two effective detecting assistants, one a bestselling mystery author and the other a more-than-understanding boyfriend. Callie herself proves formidable when questioning suspects and demanding answers, even when her own shop is the target of arson. Collectible music boxes always play a vital role not just as a murder weapon, but in resurrecting cherished memories and emotions. The mystery of whether Callie’s Aunt Mel delivers timely messages from the afterlife through a music box lingers, but it’s undeniable that her House of Melody music box shop is a true gift to both Callie and readers.

3.5

In this third book of the Keepsake Cove Mystery series, Callie Reed is resigned to helping her ex-boyfriend Hank after he is accused of murdering his band manager.

I find this series to be fun and a quick read. Callie is one smart cookie. She identifies several other murder suspects. When the local police seem to only want to focus on Hank, she works through each possible suspect until she eventually is able to determine who really did commit the murder. I enjoy the other residents of Keepsake Cove and look forward to spending more time with them.

My thanks to Midnight Ink and Netgalley.

Callie Reed is in the groove of life in Keepsake Cove and is very excited about the upcoming spring festival. Things take a turn when her ex, Hank, shows up in her store. His band has been hired to play at the festival.
Callie does her best to maintain her boundaries but becomes the only person Hank can rely on when he is arrested for murder. Can Callie figure out who the real killer is? Can she and Brian move forward with their new relationship while Hank needs her help? Can Callie get everything wrapped up before she needs to fly to Oregon to help her mom through a surgery?
A Curio Killing is a fine addition to the Keepsake Cove Mystery series. Callie is a strong main character - I am enjoying her growth as the series continues. Keepsake Cove is a great setting - there are lots of opportunities to introduce new characters or get to know older characters better. I look forward to seeing what happens next.

I love this series and I hope it will be continued.
It was great to meet again the quirky cast of characters and read about them.
The plot is engrossing and entertaining, the cast of characters likeable and well developed, the mystery kept me guessing.
I look forward to reading other novels in this series.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This is my 3rd journey back to this town and it kept me guessing until the very end. I can't even begin to image a town that has such a variety of collectible stores, but it seems to work for Keepsake Cove!

Callie is a smart woman and is enjoying her new life running her grandmother's music box store. She has settled into the town nicely, met a new guy that runs the cafe, and she has solved a murder or two. The festival in town brings back her ex, Hank, who seems pretty clueless. Why he thinks she would let him stay with her when they aren't together is quite a mystery. The band manager turns up dead and Hank is accused of the murder. Callie knows Hank and can't believe he would kill anyone so of course, she sets off to find the real killer.

I have to say this mystery is well written and I did not suspect the killer. I was focused on one character, but I should have known it wouldn't be that simple. More and more characters were revealed to have ties to the deceased and I couldn't figure out who killed the manager. The author does a great job with red herrings and leading you down many wrong paths! When the mystery comes to a head and Callie finds herself in trouble, well you could have pushed me over with a feather because this character was nowhere on my radar.

I enjoyed the continued love story between Callie and Brian. I am thrilled to see them taking it slow and that he didn't go off the deep end when Hank showed up in town and Callie was trying to help clear his name. He's definitely a keeper.

Overall we really enjoyed this book and feel like the series is continuing to improve and become stronger books. I can't wait to see what is in store for book 4. We give this book 5 paws up.

This was just an okay cosy mystery for me. Although it has some interesting characters and a decent plot, I felt the book fell flat a bit at times.