In this second book in the 'Golden Motel' series, a motel guest hoping to resurrect an old gold mine becomes a murder victim. The book works fine as a standalone since it has a "Who's Who" of all the old and new characters.
*****Dee Stern was a Hollywood sitcom writer for fifteen years before she and her best friend (and former husband) Jeff Cornetta opened the Golden Motel in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Jeff, who's a freelance website designer, created a webpage to advertise the hostelry and describe things to do in the area.
The local attractions include the nearby Majestic National Park and two quaint towns: Foundgold, home to the Golden Motel and Williker's All-In-One General Store;
and Goldsgone, a historic re-creation town that looks almost exactly like it did 150 years ago. The Goldsgondians dress in period costumes; speak in Old West lingo; and maintain old timey facades for their stores and businesses.
Dee and Jeff are always looking for ways to attract guests, so they've renovated an old sluice - a facsimile of the original Forty-Niners' wooden contraption that separates gold from river bottom water.
The brook water used for the sluice is seeded with pyrite (fool's gold) to give guests an enjoyable 'panning for gold' experience, and Dee's father dresses up as Prospector Pete to add to the fun.
Shockingly, the first visitors to try the sluice find REAL gold nuggets, and a video posted to social media starts a gold rush. Online reservations for the Golden Motel ratchet up in minutes, and by the following day every hostelry in the area is booked up by prospectors, wannabes, families, and curiosity seekers.
Four young Silicon Valley techies arrive at the Golden Motel in a helicopter: Sylvan Burr, Austin Nguyen, Gracie Delacroix, and Gavin Walsh, a group that call themselves the 'Core Four.'
Sylvan created an app called Tax Hax, a virtual accountant that does tax returns better and cheaper than a real-life accountant. The app made Sylvan a billionaire, and his companions are very rich as well. Sylvan tells Dee his ancestors mined gold in the area, and he wants to reopen an old family mine and extract more gold.
Sylvan has an entitled attitude, and Dee learns he's been accused of racism and sexual harassment, and he once sent a box of poop to a journalist who annoyed him. Sylvan is also unpopular with real life accountants who lost business to his app. Sylvan makes himself unpopular locally as well, by telling general store owner Elmira that her baked goods are terrible; and by trying to buy all the businesses in Goldsgone, so he can own a whole town.
Before long Sylvan is found dead at the bottom of the abandoned 'Rich Diggins' mine, stabbed in the back. This revives the Golden's Motel's old nickname 'murder motel', acquired when a guest was killed in the past. Dee fears the moniker will drive away business.
To demonstrate that the motel is a safe place, Dee decides to help Deputy Sheriff Raul Aguilar find Sylvan's killer.
During her investigation, Dee delves into people's private lives; eavesdrops on conversations; searches people's rooms; asks intrusive questions; does computer searches; breaks and enters; and suspects EVERYONE in sight. Dee texts the deputy sheriff all her findings, but it's Dee who solves the crime in the end.
As all this is happening, Jeff tests recreational activities for motel guests, like electric bikes and canoes; Dee spars with her archenemy Verity Donner Gillespie, who thinks of herself as the queen of Goldsgone; Ice Cream Ida sells delicious pumpkin ice cream sandwiches; Ranger Tom makes sculptures with found objects from the park; charcuterie artist Serena assembles scrumptious breakfast boards; Dee and her hound Nugget camp out in a tent; and much more. These additional scenes provide a wonderful ambiance to the story, and make northern California seem like a great place to visit.
The book has a few of Dee's 'Bud the Bear' cartoons, that advertise her 'Bud the Bear' stuffed toys, which she sells for extra cash.
"Where's the mayo for my turkey leg?"
The book also has a recipe for Nutty Almond Date Bars, because California is the almond and date capital of America.
Nutty Almond Date Bars
I enjoyed this cozy mystery, especially the array of slightly wacky characters.
Thanks to Netgalley, Ellen Byron, and Kensington Cozies for a copy of the book.
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