Friday 27 May 2022

COLIN CONWAY - COZY UP TO BLOOD (2020)


Synopsis/blurb...

A man running from his past. A thief with a taste for blood. This is no time for scrapbooking.

“Colin Conway has written the most unusual hero I've come across in a long time. Both touching and sweet with a razor-sharp edge. This is not your grandma's cozy.”
Libby Klein, Author of the Poppy McAllister Mysteries

Welcome to Belfry, Oregon—the home of Evenfall!

Years ago, a series of sparkly vampire movies were made on this north Oregon island.  Every autumn, a festival is held to celebrate the films and let fans reenact their favorite scenes.

Murray Lee has no interest in bloodsuckers, though.  For the past several days, an outlaw motorcycle gang seeking revenge has pursued him. He’s tired, alone, and cranky. Amid a torrential downpour, Murray barely crossed the lone working bridge to Belfry before it washed out.

Now, he’s stranded on the island as his enemy musters its forces and plans an attack.

To make matters worse, someone is biting and robbing the citizens of the island.  The local cops seem to think Murray fits the description and are digging into his background.

But Murray is a man with a secret he must protect. The U.S. government has invested a lot to keep him safe, and his enemies will stop at nothing now that they’ve found him.

Murray Lee is about to be immersed in vampire culture in a way he would never have expected.

Another fun read from Colin Conway's 'Cozy up to' series with the third in the series - Blood - the latest adventure with our witness protection biker, Beauregard Smith having burned through another identity and currently seeking refuge on an island from his former colleagues. His former biker brother's are like a dog with a bone.

Only he's now trapped himself on this island in a storm with the only access bridge closed. Unfortunately he's also in the company of a plethora of assorted wannabee vampires and werewolves celebrating the Evenfall festival. In Conway's world you can substitute Evenfall for Twilight. 

As per previous books, Smith aka Murray Lee manages to get himself on the radar of the local police. Our Witness Protection guy couldn't keep a low profile if his life depended on it. Oh wait.... it does!

Character, story, setting, pace, humour - all present.
Good fun all round and it's one of those books that you get a feeling that the author was chuckling to himself as he was writing it. It's currently one of my favourite series. 

4 stars from 5

Cozy up to Death and Cozy up to Murder have been enjoyed before. Cozy up to Trouble has been enjoyed since I read this one. I just need to read Cozy up to Christmas and I'm all square. 


Read - March, 2022
Published - 2020
Page count - 273
Source - review copy from author
Format - Kindle

4 comments:

  1. I like this series, Col; to me, it's an interesting and effective cross between light mystery and something with a bit of grit. And the premise - that keeps Beau moving around - is, I think, an especially clever way to keep the series going in interesting directions. Glad you enjoyed this.

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    1. Nice to have some commonality and crossover in our reading, Margot. I'm really enjoying the series and the constant re-invention of the character while keeping him the same keeps it fresh.

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  2. I was just looking at the first book in this series recently. I should try it out.

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