Kate’s Review: “Bury the Lead”

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Book: “Bury the Lead” by Kate Hilton & Elizabeth Renzetti

Publishing Info: Spiderline, March 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from Zg Stories

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: A big-city journalist joins the staff of a small-town paper in cottage country and finds a community full of secrets … and murder. Cat Conway has recently returned to Port Ellis to work as a reporter at the Quill & Packet . She’s fled the tattered remains of her high-profile career and bad divorce for the holiday town of her childhood, famous for its butter tarts, theatre, and a century-old feud. One of Cat’s first assignments is to interview legendary actor Eliot Fraser, the lead in the theatre’s season opener of Inherit the Wind . When Eliot ends up dead onstage on opening night, the curtain rises on the sleepy town’s secrets. The suspects include the actor whose career Eliot ruined, the ex-wife he betrayed, the women he abused, and even the baker he wronged. With the attention of the world on Port Ellis, this story could be Cat’s chance to restore her reputation. But the police think she’s a suspect, and the murderer wants to kill the story―and her too. Can Cat solve the mystery before she loses her job or becomes the next victim of a killer with a theatrical bent for vengeance?

Review: Thank you Zg Stories for sending me an eARC and an ARC of this novel!

Well, I think that it’s time that I just admit to myself that I am going to be the resident cozy mystery reviewer on this blog, because at this point I have three or four series that I am actively seeking out and following and reviewing on here. Perhaps it’s a bit of a contrast given my usual focus on the darker elements of genres, but you know what, I’m going to own it. I contain multitudes!! After all, when “Bury the Lead” by Kate Hilton and Elizabeth Renzetti ended up in my inbox, I was drawn to it. A cozy mystery that has a reporter of small town newspaper as the lead, who has to investigate the on stage death of a famous but ultimately abusive leading man, well that just catches my eye. I am wholly on board with becoming the resident cozy mystery reviewer, and “Bury the Lead” is the start of what will hopefully be another series I can follow. Because I enjoyed it!

At the heart of any good cozy mystery is a relatable and enjoyable protagonist, and in “Bury the Lead” we have Cat Conway, a reporter for a small town newspaper who is trying to pick up the pieces of multiple fallouts from her life. If it’s not the divorce she has had to endure from her nasty ex husband, it’s the recent loss of an illustrious journalism job, and she is now rebuilding as best she can in a small town. Cat is a great main character to follow, because she has a lot of baggage that she is carrying with her, and being able to break the story on what happened to Eliot Fraser would certainly get her reputation (and self perception) back on track. I liked her rough edges, I liked she snark and her glimmers of pain and resentment, and I liked that her complications never bogged her down. I also liked that she was an ‘older’ protagonist, as while that’s not exactly a novel thing when it comes to cozy mysteries, as someone who is approaching 40 herself, seeing women in books be able to be in an older age bracket and still have the spotlight is always a treat. I was very invested in Cat and would definitely read more books about her should this series continue.

The mystery itself is well done, and crafted in a way that laid out clues at a good pace and had plenty of means, motives, and opportunities for a large swath of suspects. Like many cozy mysteries, Hilton and Renzetti have a charming community that serves as a setting, and a charming cast of characters, some of whom will probably be seen as the series continues, and others who make for solid villains. As Cat investigates for her story we meet the people at the newspaper, as well as plenty of people who may have wanted Fraser dead for some pretty legitimate (and in some cases upsetting) reasons. I found myself guessing for awhile as to what the solution was going to be, and even though I solved it a bit before I was supposed to, I still greatly enjoyed the ride and found the plot well thought out and presented. And hey, I love the idea of the main ‘hook’ (as so many cozy mysteries have hooks) being a small town newspaper with a sometimes quirky but always intrepid set of reporters, with Cat leading the way.

“Bury the Lead” is an enjoyable cozy mystery to add to my ever growing series list that I intend to follow forward. I’m still very amused that cozy mysteries ended up in my lap on the blog, but with books like this they are an enjoyable beat to have.

Rating 8: A well conceived plot with a comfy setting and a charming cast of characters makes “Bury the Lead” another cozy mystery series I intend to keep my eyes on.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Bury the Lead” isn’t on many specific Goodreads lists as of yet, but it would fit in on “Cozy Crimes”.