Renee at It’s Book Talk began Throwback Thursday as a way to share some old favourites or books that you’re finally getting around to reading that were published months or years ago.
This week, my Throwback Thursday ‘old favourite’ is another book I had the pleasure of reading via Readers Favorite: It’s Just a Little Crush, the first in the Lizzie Hart Mystery series by Caroline Fardig.
The sleepy town of Liberty hasn’t seen murder in…well…ever. Residents are stunned when the body of a young woman is found strangled, and reporters at the Liberty Chronicle are thrilled, rather disturbingly, over the biggest news story to hit town this century. Lizzie Hart has even bigger problems. Lately, she can’t seem to concentrate on her job as copy editor at the Chronicle with the new hunky investigative reporter, Blake Morgan, swaggering around the office. How can a girl work when she’s using all of her energy combating Blake-induced hot flashes and struggling to repress the giggly inner schoolgirl that’s constantly rearing her dorky head? It’s a good thing that Blake barely knows Lizzie exists. After an odd string of events, however, Lizzie begins to wonder if Blake is really as fabulous as she has fantasized. When Lizzie and Blake find a co-worker dead, Blake’s personality changes completely—and not in a good way. Even though the police rule the death as an accident, Lizzie immediately suspects foul play and senses a connection to the recent murder. She is determined to bring the killer to justice, but is having some trouble getting her Nancy Drew on thanks to the pesky stalker she’s picked up—Blake Morgan. Wait, didn’t she want him to follow her around and pay attention to her? Not like this. Blake has turned from cool and smooth to cold and downright scary, making Lizzie wonder if he should be next on her suspect list.
* Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US *
This is my review from 6 January 2014:
“It’s Just a Little Crush is an absolute joy to read. Caroline Fardig’s first novel is narrated by Lizzie Hart: 26-years old, reluctant cat owner and Copy Editor extraordinaire at the local paper in the small, Midwestern town of Liberty. Lizzie works alongside the paper’s small team of journalists, including her long-time best friend, the local introverted geek and her bitchy office nemesis. When she is not busy checking on their grammar, Lizzie is preoccupied with checking out new boy, Blake Morgan – tall, dark, handsome and recently arrived in town from Chicago. When murder and violence strike the small town, Lizzie is drawn into an investigation, but will she find that the culprit is closer than she could ever have imagined?
I really enjoyed reading It’s Just a Little Crush. It is very well written, sassy, funny and exciting, with a smart, well-developed plot, a devious crop of sneaky suspects and some heart-fluttering romantic clinches. It very much reminded me of two of my favourite pieces of fiction: it gives a very good idea of what the TV series Murder, She Wrote would have been like if Bridget Jones had taken the lead! Caroline Fardig’s story is intriguing and keeps you turning the pages, and the gossipy workings of small town life are exposed to the full, as ever giving the amateur sleuth the edge over the more official investigators. This is a brilliant start to the book series and I am very much looking forward to reading the next one!”
There are now five books available in the Lizzie Hart Mystery series plus Caroline Fardig must have been very busy! She has written a second light-hearted series, the Java Jive Mysteries, and a new, darker thriller series featuring Criminalist Ellie Matthews. I will have to check these out asap!
juliapalooza.com 
Sounds cute 😀
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It was good fun 🙂
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