Read time: 5 minutes
🎧 Listened in audio | 📢 Narrated by Nicole Zanzarella
⏱ Duration: 9 hours | Genre: Cozy Mystery
🏷️ Publisher name: St. Martin’s Paperbacks and Tantor Media
Book Blurb:
Five months after the last murder in Cedar River, Texas, Juni Jessup and her sisters Tansy and Maggie are humming along again. Then predatory investors start pressuring their struggling vinyl shop and coffee nook, Sip & Spin Records, and the sisters refuse to give in. The night after their meeting, the financier is killed outside the shop during a torrential thunderstorm that washes out every road out of town. Trapped with a killer, Juni is determined to solve the case. When the river turns up a surprise, Detective Beau Russell asks for her help, and the whole town is watching.
Let’s talk … murder!!!
I’d recently gone down a Shark Tank binge before starting this, and it made the investor pitch land even harder. The second the offer came in, I clocked him as a shark. Juni’s response, holding firm even as he tried to spin the terms in his favor, was so satisfying. Giving Zach Fjorde a childhood backstory only sharpened that “predator” read. It felt like Blacke had just watched an episode herself before sitting down to write this one.
I’m also relieved the love triangle is finally resolved. It’s the one thread that never quite worked for me across the series. Everything else has been consistently strong. With the trio broken up and Juni’s choice made, I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing the romance get real room to breathe in the next book.
One thing that didn’t land for me: the flood. The storm washes out the roads and traps everyone in town with a killer, which sounds like a great pressure-cooker setup, but it never really changed how the story moved. Suspects were stuck in place, sure, but the mystery itself felt like it would have unfolded the same way without the isolation forcing anyone’s hand. It read more like atmosphere than plot engine.
Small bit of extra context for anyone considering the series: this is book three, following Vinyl Resting Place and A Fatal Groove, and Blacke (who has a criminology degree) also writes the Brooklyn Murder Mysteries if the record-shop setting appeals to you and you want more from her after this one.
Would I recommend it?
Rhythm and Clues is a fun read and I’m glad I picked it up. The investor plot was my favourite part, mostly because Juni refused to budge when he tried to twist the deal. The love triangle is finally settled, which frees the next book up for a proper romance. My one complaint is the flood. It traps everyone in town with a killer, yet the mystery would have played out the same way without it. Still a recommend from me if you like small-town cozies with a bit of business drama.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
5 book recommendations
- Vinyl Resting Place by Olivia Blacke
If you haven’t met the Jessup sisters yet, this is where Sip & Spin Records opens and the first body turns up.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
- Killer Content by Olivia Blacke
Same author, new setting: the first Brooklyn Murder Mystery is a good next stop if Blacke’s humor is what pulled you in.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
- Murder Is Binding by Lorna Barrett
Sisters, a small-town shop and a body next door make this Booktown Mystery start a natural pick after the Jessups.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
- On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle
A coffeehouse, a family business and a murder make this Coffeehouse Mystery a good match for the Sip & Spin coffee nook.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
- Written in Dead Wax by Andrew Cartmel
If the vinyl side of Sip & Spin was your favourite part, this record-hunting mystery is one for the crate.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
Would You Take the Deal?
Okay, real question. If a slick investor walked into your favourite small shop and offered to buy a majority stake, would you hear him out or show him the door like Juni did? And if you’ve read the series, are you as relieved as I am that the love triangle is done? Tell me in the comments. I’m also curious whether the flood worked better for you than it did for me.
Book Links
Want to purchase this or any of your favorite books while supporting a local bookstore? Consider purchasing using the sites below. These sites work with independent local bookstore owners to fulfill your book orders. #SupportLocal
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
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