Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for The Snow Job (Century Cottage Cozy Mysteries)by Dianne Ascroft! Today we are featuring a review of book three in this cozy mystery series. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews, and more! It’s a great way to add books to your TBR! There is also a Rafflecopter Giveaway for one paperback copy of The Snow Job. (USA & International.)

The Snow Job (Century Cottage Cozy Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – Fenwater, a fictional small town in the province of Ontario in Canada during the early 1980s.
Independently Published (December 13, 2023)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 310 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8871249321
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CQ3DJL3F

My Review:

Set in 1984 Fenwater, a rural village in Canada, The Snow Job  by Dianne Ascroft is book three in her Century Cottage Cozy Mystery Series. While this is the third in the series, this entry can easily be read as a stand alone. 

Lois Stone, a middle-aged widow, is beginning to settle into her life and the community in Fenwater. She has a part-time job at the library, her good friend Marge and her romantic partner Bruce, not to mention a most unusual resident ghost in her century home. 

Lois is also looking forward to the town’s biggest Scottish event, the annual Burns Night supper. (“A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, the author of many Scots poems. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet’s birthday, 25 January, known as Burns Night, also called Robert Burns Day or Rabbie Burns Day.” Wikipedia) 

Unfortunately, Lois and Marge find a member of the Burns Night committee dead in the snow one cold winter night. They learn later that the police are considering his cause of death as suspicious. While Lois has promised Bruce that she won’t involve herself in police matters, like any good sleuth she just can’t help but ask a few questions. And those few questions lead her and Marge down a slippery path full of suspects and mysterious twists. 

The setting is wonderfully developed in The Snow Job. I felt the chill in the air and could hear the ice and snow crunching under Lois’s feet as she went about town. The ice skating scenes were particularly atmospheric. I was able to guess the culprit, but that never bothers me–I loved seeing Lois put the pieces together to track down the killer. While the mystery element and potential suspects were strong, I especially enjoyed the community and descriptions of life in this small village in 1984. There’s something to be said for solving crimes without all the technology of today! And Lois’s ghost goat is a total hoot and such a unique twist on the paranormal element. This was a fun wintery read! 

About the Book:

A Scottish shindig, a pretty pin, a cold corpse. When a well-liked and respected townsman is murdered on a snowy street in Fenwater, it’s up to Lois Stone to sift through a multitude of motives to find the killer.

Middle-aged widow Lois is beginning to feel part of the Fenwater community, and as winter sets in, she is getting ready for the town’s biggest Scottish event, the annual Burns Night supper. But when one of the committee members dies in suspicious circumstances, Lois has more to worry about than the fate of this year’s celebration. She tried unsuccessfully to revive the man and her friend Marge worked with him. So, they want to find his killer even though Lois promised her partner Bruce that she would stay out of police matters. But, what’s the harm in asking a few questions? Such as does someone want to safeguard their inheritance or give their business a boost? Will finding the motive for the murder lead them to the killer or maybe more?

And so begins a fortnight of slippery sidewalks, angst about ancestors, capable firemen and cunning firebugs, unreliable records, swirling Scottish music and swinging tartan kilts, calico cats and smouldering spooks set against the backdrop of snow glistening under streetlamps on serene streets, the comfort of ritual in a cold churchyard, the swish of skate blades in crisp night air and the tang of mouthwatering meatloaf in rural Canada in 1984.

The Century Cottage Mystery series is mainly set in rural Ontario, Canada during the early 1980s.

A tale for fans of Cindy Bell, Leighann Dobbs, Dianne Harman and Kathi Daley.

About The Author:

Dianne Ascroft writes the Century Cottage Cozy Mysteries, set in rural Canada, and The Yankee Years historical sagas, set in WWII Northern Ireland. She has a passion for Ireland and Canada, past and present. An ex-pat Canadian, Dianne lives on a small farm with her husband and an assortment of strong-willed animals.

Her previous fiction works include An Unbidden Visitor (a tale inspired by Fermanagh’s famous Coonian ghost); Dancing Shadows, Tramping Hooves: A Collection of Short Stories (contemporary tales), and an historical novel, Hitler and Mars Bars, which explores Operation Shamrock, a little known Irish Red Cross humanitarian endeavor.

Author Links:

Website: http://www.dianneascroft.com

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DianneAscroftwriter/

Twitter/X: @DianneAscroft

Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/y1k5c3

Purchase Links:

Books2Read    Amazon

TOUR PARTICIPANTS:

• February 19 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee – SPOTLIGHT
• February 20 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
• February 21 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
• February 22 – Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense – SPOTLIGHT
• February 23 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
• February 23 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
• February 24 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
• February 25 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST
• February 25 – Cozy Up With Kathy – CHARACTER GUEST POST
• February 26 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
• February 27 – Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books – REVIEW
• February 28 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
• February 28 – Novels Alive – REVIEW
• February 29 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
• March 1 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT
• March 2 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR GUEST POST
• March 2 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
• March 3 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

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