Review Blitz for The Body in the Landscape by Larissa Reinhart

Welcome to my stop on the Review Blitz, presented by CLP Blog Tours, for The Body in the Landscape by Larissa Reinhart.  Please leave a comment or question for Larissa to let her know you stopped by. 

The Body in the Landscape

By Larissa Reinhart

A Cherry Tucker Mystery, Book 5

Publisher:  Henery Press

Release Date: December 15, 2015

Genre: Cozy Mystery/Female Sleuth

Format: eBook/Print

Length:  276 Pages

ISBN: 978-1943390373

ASIN: B015G3FE6A

Buy Links:  Amazon | B&N | Kobo |  iTunes

About the book:

When Cherry Tucker’s invited to paint the “kill portrait” for the winner of Big Rack Lodge’s Hogzilla hunt, it seems like a paid vacation. Back home in Halo, a Hatfield-McCoy-style standoff builds between Luke and Cherry’s families. She’s ready for a weekend away, hobnobbing with rich and famous hunters, where she can forget her troubles and nobody knows her name.

As Georgia sunshine turns to bleak December rain, Cherry’s R&R goes MIA when she finds a body in the woods. While the police believe the local drunk took an accidental spill, Cherry has her doubts, particularly when a series of malicious pranks are targeted at the rifle toting contestants. With loyal companions at her side—sort-of-ex-husband Todd and a championship bayer named Buckshot—Cherry tracks suspects through a forest full of pitfalls and perils. And all the while, a killer’s stalking the hunt party with a bead on Cherry.

Author Bio

Larissa considers herself lucky to have taught English in Japan, escaped a ferocious monkey in Thailand, studied archaeology in Egypt, and survived teaching high school history in the US. However, adopting her daughters from China has been her most rewarding experience. After moving around the Midwest, the South and Japan, her home address is Peachtree City, Georgia.

In June 2015, she and her husband, daughters, and Biscuit, a Cairn Terrier, moved back to Nagoya, Japan, where she'll continue to write about Southern characters, athough some might find their way to the Land of the Rising Sun.

She loves small town characters with big attitudes, particularly sassy women with a penchant for trouble. The Cherry Tucker Mystery series with Henery Press begins with Portrait of a Dead Guy (August 28, 2012), a 2012 Daphne du Maurier finalist, a 2012 The Emily finalist, and a 2011 Dixie Kane Memorial winner. 

Following Portrait are Still Life in Brunswick Stew, (May 21, 2013), the 2014 Georgia Author of the Year and Silver Falchion nominee, Hijack in Abstract (November 5, 2013), and Death in Perspective (June 24, 2014) follow. The Cherry Tucker novella, Quick Sketch, in the mystery anthology The Heartache Motel (December 10, 2013) is a prequel to Portrait. The fifth Cherry Tucker mystery, The Body in the Landscape, will launch December 15, 2015.

She was very pleased to receive the 2015 finalist medal for Georgia Author of the Year, Best Mystery, for Death in Perspective.

Links

Website:  http://larissareinhart.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RisWrites

Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/RisWrites

Instagram:  http://instagram.com/larissareinhart

Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/LarissaReinhart/

Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5806614.Larissa_Reinhart

Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/collections/13581594/Cherry-Tucker-Mystery-Series

A huge fan of the Henery Press cozy mysteries, I couldn’t wait to dive into The Body in the Landscape by Larissa Reinhart.  The fifth book in her Cherry Tucker mystery series, which is best enjoyed if read in order, Ms. Reinhart takes Cherry, and her fans, to a luxury hunting lodge in the Georgia countryside where a body is found in the woods and nothing is quite what it seems.  Filled with colorful characters, an over the top heroine and plenty of twists and turns, this is a great addition to an already established series.

Continuing to develop Cherry’s character as the series builds, Ms. Reinhart takes her primary character away from home, her “boyfriend” Luke, and her brother’s legal problems and places her in the middle of a hunting contest being held for the rich and famous.  Hired to paint the portrait of the “winner” and the “hogzilla” terrorizing the local countryside, Cherry stumbles across a body in the woods and can’t help getting involved in a solving a mystery no one believes exists.  While Cherry is a bit unusual, she loves wearing bright colors, adding rhinestones and other ornamental flourishes to her wardrobe and sees everything through a painter’s viewpoint, she’s smart, attractive and seems to be a magnet for dead bodies.  I really like her personality and how she manages to get along with everyone though she comes from the “wrong side of the tracks” in her small town.

The secondary characters were interesting and I especially enjoyed getting to know Todd, her sorta ex-husband Todd, who clearly still cares for her, along with Max Avtaikin, the wealthy Russian casino owner who hired her, and Bob Bass, a rock-star turned celebrity hunter (made me think of Ted Nugent), who are determined to bag the “hogzilla”.  They all added color, background and lots of “trash-talking” during the hunt and at the lodge.  The mystery takes several twists and turns and Cherry finds herself at odds with the local police who don’t seem to care for her involvement in what they at first claim is not a homicide.  Ms. Reinhart does a good job pacing the story and I found myself turning the pages to discover what would happen next. 

Will Cherry discover who killed the local man who loaned the lodge his dogs for the hunt?  Which hunter will bag the “hogzilla” that’s been terrorizing the local countryside?  And will Cherry realize that Todd should not be her ex but her future? You’ll have to read The Body in the Landscape to find out, I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next book in the series to find out which man Cherry picks for the future.

My Rating:  4 out of 5 Crowns

Tour Schedule

December 15 – Tara’s Book Reviews

December 17 – The Book Bag

December 18 – Granny Loves to Read

December 18 – Queen of All She Reads

December 21 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews

December 21 – The Phantom Paragrapher

FTC Disclosure:  I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour for a fair and honest review.