Cozy Up To Murder (Cozy Up #2) by Colin Conway

Cozy Up To Murder (Cozy Up #2) Reviews

• 
  Phrynne

  In this second book Brody Steele, formerly known as Beau Smith, is now Owen Hunter, and is installed by the Witness Protection Program in a record store in California. He has every intention of becoming a better citizen and keeping out of trouble, but unfortunately he only seems able to upset everyone. Thus when someone he has argued with in public is murdered, he becomes the main suspect for the local police. Much trouble ensues for everyone.
  
  
  Cozy Up To Murder is every bit as enjoyable as the first book. The author writes with humour and has created an excellent main character and a delightful cat who has even more names than his owner. This is a cosy mystery with attitude and I enjoyed it very much. Even better there are three more books in the series waiting for me!
• 
  Kathy

  This second in the series is very enjoyable just after the first, and I plan to continue to next episode for this story is definitely episodic. The change from Maine to coastal California is quite a distance considering the junker car our hero must travel in as he continues to change locales to avoid his old motorcycle gang. Who knew the government's witness protection program could be so frenetic! Murray had done his best to fit in with the eclectic mix of boardwalk shop owners whilst attempting to manage his new location as record shop owner. One of the shop owners is killed and the finger points to Murray. He attracts an array of enemies including the women of the purple hat club. Fun is had by all, but opposition to his store ownership gets posted on social media and soon it will be time to move on just in the nick of time. Light reading; humorous and lively action.
  
  Kindle Unlimited
• 
  Hákon Gunnarsson

  Beau Smith, also known as Brody Steele, has got new name, and is now Owen Hunter. He's the new owner of Rockafellers, a vintage record store in Costa Buena, California. But being the unlucky former biker, and gang member in the witness protection program that he is, trouble follows him there.
  
  It’s simple. I like this series. I like the voice of Smith / Steele / Hunter. This mix of cozy mystery, and something a little harder, hard boiled or something of the kind, works in my view. It’s got humor, (the cat is priceless), quirky characters, good enough mystery, and rising suspense though out the book. I can’t really ask for more in this kind of novel. This is just an entertaining, and fun read.
• 
  Cathy Geha

  Cozy Up To Death by Colin Conway
  The Cozy Up Series #1
  
  Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be plopped down in a completely foreign-to-you setting and told you had to leave behind yourself and become someone entirely different? Why would this happen? Perhaps because you gave evidence to the FBI against someone with the power to kill you and fearing that would happen the government gave you a new identity. That happened to Beau Smith in this new take on the Cozy Mystery genre.
  
  Beau has been put in Pleasant Valley, Maine to live a quiet life as a bookstore owner and given the name Brody Steele. He has a quiet town to settle into, a business to learn, a cat that came with the store and a town that wonders what happened to the previous owner. There is definitely a mystery or two or three to be solved and Beau/Brody is in the thick of things even while trying to maintain a low profile and not give away his past identity.
  
  What I liked:
  * Beau/Brody: a man with an interesting past who seems to enjoy the change a small town and its residents provide – especially Daphne
  * The cat of many names – what an interesting idea for customers to have a cat in the bookstore and also have the legend that went along with the cat’s name
  * The quirky characters sprinkled through the story
  * That the cozy’s main character is a man and not the typical hero one would expect in this genre
  * The twists and turns and surprises
  * Beau’s ability to take charge
  * The writing, plot and pace of the story
  * That there was more action in this book than in most cozies
  * The bad guys
  
  What I didn’t like:
  * The bad guys...glad they got their comeuppance
  
  Did I enjoy this book? Yes
  Would I read more in this series? Yes
  Was it the typical cozy mystery? No, not really, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway
  
  Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.
  
  5 Stars
  
• 
  Mark Baker

  Owen Hunter is new to Costa Buena, having just bought one of the local used music stores in town. He’s hoping to blend in and settle into the coastal California community, however on his first day, he has several run ins with local citizens. When one of them, the owner of the rival music store, turns up dead, Owen becomes the prime suspect. He has to clean his name before his past comes out since he is in witness protection. Can he find the truth without his real identity being revealed?
  
  Since I enjoyed the first in the series, I wanted to see what happened to our hero next. Owen is an intriguing main character, trying to put his past behind him and become a better citizen. The rest of the cast is all new (except for a couple of supporting government agents). They are a colorful lot, although they do fall into stereotypes at times. The plot is intriguing, and I didn’t figure it out. The book, especially the premise, stretches credibility quite a bit, but I find that Owen and the plot make up for that for me. It helps that this is a quick read – I breezed through it in two days instead of my normal three. Despite the flaws, I’m glad I picked this book up.
  
  Read my full review at
  Carstairs Considers.
• 
  ☮Karen

  Still a real cute series. It's a constant challenge for Beau to be a nice guy and conform to expectations when he's been a nonconformist rebel all his life. I did think this was so close to the first book that it felt like not much thought had to go into this one at all. The setting for the witness protection site changed from a bookstore in Maine to a music store in California. Same cover stories, same cat with no name, same motorcycle gang trying to find Beau. I'll still try to listen to #3, though, as it's been very entertaining and they're short and sweet.
• 
  Libby Klein

  I love the series! It is delightfully different from the usual cozy. I can't wait to read the next one.
• 
  Cathy Geha

  Cozy Up To Murder by Colin Conway
  The Cozy Up Series #2
  
  What a relaxing, fun and interesting way to spend time today! I needed a simple cozy murder mystery to take my mind away for awhile and this book provided that escape for me today.
  
  Book one in this series introduced a character I really liked and I was happy to see what he would get up to in book two. Beau left in a hurry at the end of the first book even though he thought he might have liked the town he had been settled into through the Witness Protection program. That lasted a week and then he had to move on...it was a matter of life and death. By the end of book one he had the Mafia and Satan’s Dawgs MC on his tail and he needed a safe place to land.
  
  So, in book two Beau has a new name, is in California running a record shop and willing to make a go of it. He has promised to keep a low profile and avoid anything that might expose him and put his life in danger. With that in mind he opens the doors of his shop, meets a number of new people, has a few interesting interactions including an altercation and begins to settle in. Beau is now Owen Hunter and the town is definitely not as inviting as the last one. He soon has a murder to solve and a number of potential murderers to check out.
  
  What I liked:
  * Beau: a big rather quiet man who does enjoy a puzzle. He wants to be a better man and is not finding the cooperation from those around him that he needs to do so
  * The cat of many names...think he is growing on Beau
  * Ted & Max who are in charge of keeping Beau safe
  * The plot, writing and joy that I found while reading this book
  * Wondering if Daphne might show up eventually as Beau is not having an easy time forgetting her
  * The mystery and how it was solved
  * Wondering what will happen next…
  
  What I didn’t like:
  * The only thing I didn’t like was having to say goodbye to Beau knowing I will have to wait awhile to find out what happens next.
  
  Did I like this book? Yes
  Would I read more in this series? Definitely
  
  Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.
  
  5 Stars
• 
  Frank Zafiro

  COZY UP TO MURDER is a great follow-up to the first book in the series, COZY UP TO DEATH. It is a perfect blend of keeping what works in the first book but changing things up to keep it fresh. Beau Smith goes from the east coast to the west, exchanges a book store for a record store, and most of his problems for the book reside within the new town where he takes up residence. But the jokes are still there, the mystery is still there, the CAT is still there...it' s great.
  
  I'm more of a procedural or hard boiled reader, rather than a cozy reader. But even though this is most definitely in the cozy realm, it is satisfying. This series reminds me of Sue Grafton's work in that respect - it adeptly straddles the line between the lighter and harder elements of the mystery genre. You always run the risk of pleasing no one when trying to do this, but this series hits the mark. Cozy readers should love it, hard boiled readers should love it.
  
  Part of what's funny in these mysteries, aside from what's happening on the surface, is that Conway pokes subtle fun at both the cozy tropes and the hard boiled tropes in equal measure. I notice the cozy jabs more because of my bias for hard boiled, but I'd be willing to bet the cozy enthusiasts see the loving digs on the hard boiled tropes as being more prominent.
  
  This is a quick read, a fun romp, and a very promising series.
• 
  Jenna

  Beau is back. This time he’s the owner of a record store that’s supposed to sell 50&60’s rock but he wants to do heavy metal. The cat is still with him while he tries to continue the practice of having it named by each person individually. (this time a musician instead of a literary detective)
  Sarcastic wit in the dialogue.
  I do really like character...Poor guy is trying to become a better person with his 2nd chance but he can't escape the violence.
  The quirkiness of the towns characters were kicked up a notch & I liked that. More amusing but maybe b/c it was relaxed CA & not stuffy Maine.
  
  The grill brothers diner was especially amusing & my fave so far.
  But maybe the feds should be setting him up as a PI instead of shop owners as he seems to have a knack for it.
  
  
• 
  Carolyn

  Owen Hunter is having a bad time. Previously known as Beau Smith, a member of Satan's Dawgs Motorcycle gang, he’s turned FBI informer and is in witness protection. He had to leave his first placement, as a bookshop owner in Maine, in a hurry when the Dawgs found him, leaving not only his assumed name but the girl he loves behind. Now he’s posing as the owner of a record store in a California seaside town. Since he loves music, he’s happy about his new job and location and determined to make this new start work for him but this town isn’t as welcoming as the town in Maine and within a day he has upset the local business committee and the women who owns all the buildings except his and had an agreement with the previous owner to buy it. And then a rival business owner he argued with is found dead, Owen is the main suspect.
  
  This is turning out to be a really fun series. The characters are all delightful, even the shady ones and the lawmen ,and there’s a lot of humour in the trouble Owen unwittingly gets himself into and also in the antics of the locals. I love that Travis, the feisty cat (who Owen says he doesn’t like), has managed to follow Owen from Maine to California. Can’t wait to see where Owen/Beau and Travis turn up next!
• 
  karin whitehead

  I received this novel from ARC in exchange of an honest review.
  This is book two in the saga of Beau in the witness protection program. This time he's running a music store, hiding out from the motorcycle gang he turned on. The big bad guy is turning into a gentle giant. The cat with no name is still is his confidant, his guilty pleasure. Well written, fun read. Fast and furious, great characters that I've come to love. Looking forward to the next story!
• 
  Kathy

  Well developed plot and enjoyable sequel to Cozy Up To Death. This unique series is about a former "bookkeeper" in a motorcycle gang who has developed a conscience now that he is in the Witness Protection Program. Each of the first two books features the main character with a different name and a slightly different occupation, resulting in a fun brozy mystery series. Book number 3 is sure to be another great read.
• 
  mary arnold

  The first day of his second attempt at being in witness protection, Beau is having trouble with his customers when they see “heavy metal posters” in his 50s and 60s record store. The small California town has very tight boxes for its boardwalk business owners to fit into. This makes for a humorous undertone to the story even though two men have been murdered. What a way to lose yourself for several hours!
• 
  Gena Wood

  Just finished the second of the series & I liked it just as much as the first one that I read yesterday. It is a fun book that includes mystery, suspense, etc....but, the best part is.... his surprise! I don't do spoilers...you need to read it to find out what his surprise was. I just loved that little tidbit of the story, though.
  I had planned to start the next one tomorrow, but, I'm pretty sure I'll start it tonight. 😁
  Enjoy.....
• 
  Emmalynn

  Beau aka Owen Hunter is now in California in a small coastal town just trying to run his record shop and bemoaning the loss of his girlfriend and involuntarily inheritance of THE cat. However. Trouble follows Beau wherever he goes. It seems the prior owner of the shop was murdered and his competitor who gets into a fight with Beau on day one, is then murdered. Beau doesn’t mean to find trouble, it just finds him, and his handlers are not happy because his former gang is still looking for him.
• 
  Tinnean

  Interesting to see what Beau/Brody/Owen is up to this time, and I have to admit I didn't see that reveal coming.
  
  Frankly, the people of Costa Buena are horrible, and I'll confess I'm glad he had to leave. And how great that Beau wants Travis the cat brought to him by his handler. ;-)
  
  A fun follow-up to Beau's adventures.
• 
  Marlys

  Poor Beau, trouble seems to follow him at every turn. This is Beau's second placement in the Witness Protection Program. The writing is great and it kept me interested from the first page to the end.
• 
  Janet L.

  I really like this series of books! Poor guy trying to do the right thing and can’t catch a break. Each new town presents another challenge that gets in the way of him being able to settle down and stay in one place. Can’t wait to see what his next adventure is.