Oh crap I'm willingly reading a cozy mystery...
...and it's not even for an ironic podcast.
Some time ago, the digital music algorithms of the Internet decided that I needed to be “into” vintage tunes of the 30s and 40s. Largely this took the form of playlists curated by Jake Westbrook of (I assume) Idaho. I’m basing this assumption on his show being carried primarily on Idaho State University’s radio website.
He and his brother Maclane run a show called Yesterday Today featuring themed episodes every week, composed of songs and old radio shows. You can catch it on KISU or YouTube.
I’m primarily interested in the music, although the shows have been fun from time to time. It’s been a couple of years since I found Jake’s YouTube channel. When he got slapped with too many copyright notices on 80 year-old music, he stopped uploading and instead focused exclusively on Yesterday Today. (You can find all archived versions of his playlists here though, and they’re good.) During one of the recent Yesterday Today episodes I checked the show notes and saw that Jake had written a novel, and since it was inexpensive, I snatched it up.
A CASE IN OAK HAVEN is a cozy mystery set in a fictional New England rural town in 1938, or thereabouts. Our protagonist is Nelson Whitney, passing through Oak Haven to see his brother and maybe drum up some private detective work. Somebody hires him for an innocent-enough case, and as he tugs at the threads he starts to discover evidence of financial fraud. An ambitious gumshoe tags along with him, a young woman who is always talking about culinary mystery novels, which Nelson detests.
It’s very Hallmark Channel. But that isn’t to say that it’s bad, only very, eh, innocent. This is a story with no sharp edges, just earnest entertainment value. It could work as a seasonal perennial read, something you pick up on a lazy fall afternoon when you’re in the mood for a quick wholesome tale.
There’s truly not much more to say about it beyond the plain and straightforward, so grab your copy if you need something like this. Peace.