Record Shop #2
This kick ass new series delivers on plot, character and setting. I was a fan of book one (Vinyl Resting Place), and this sophomore effort from Blacke is just as strong. Set in small town Texas, sisters Junie, Tansy and Maggie run a combo coffee-vinyl record shop, drawing collectors from nearby music capital, Austin. As this book opens, Sip & Spin is manning a booth at the local bluebonnet festival (google an image, Texas bluebonnets are stunning), selling coffee and DJing in between live music sets.
As the morning starts, Juni and her sister Tansy are visited at their booth by the mayor, selling him a cup of coffee. He’s unsatisfied with the plain brew they can supply off site, and when Juni runs back to the store for some missing supplies, she decides to drop by city hall with a cup of the mayor’s favorite brew. Instead, she finds him dead in his office, holding a cup of Sip & Spin coffee, and all eyes turn to Tansy, who poured it for him.
This of course is enough to kick Juni into investigative mode – no way is her sister a killer, and so she starts her gentle investigation of the death, which of course turns out to be murder. The backdrop of the bluebonnet festival is a good one, and one of the events at the festival is a hole digging contest. Back in 1956, bank robbers made off with the town’s payroll, burying it on their way out of town before being killed, and every year there’s a hole digging contest to see if the loot can be found.
As Juni continues to investigate, it becomes clear the mayor was obsessed with the lost treasure, and he’s joined by a few other competitive obsessives, including Juni’s uncle Calvin. Calvin is prone to long civic history lectures at the drop of a hat, but they are there for a reason: the clever Blacke is able to advance her story through Calvin’s words and then have him thrown exasperatedly off stage by one of his nieces. It gives the readers background.
The small town details of high school rivals, now grown, for Juni, old flames, and the loyal relationship between the sisters makes this book an even richer read. Juni has two old flames, both great choices: Teddy, her mailman and former high school buddy, and her ex Beau, the lone detective on the town police force, who broke her heart but is an annoyingly charming good guy with a great smile. It would be hard to choose between them, but luckily that’s not my problem – it’s Juni’s. I’m looking forward to seeing it play out.
The plot in this book was well done and well thought out, revealing the killer at the right moment with good storytelling laying the path for the reveal. There are righteous clues and if some of them are slightly obvious, the reading experience was so pleasant I didn’t care. Juni is a great character and I can’t wait to follow more of her adventures. — Robin Agnew