Murder Pays a Call: A Keri Armstrong Cozy Mystery by Nancy J Cohen

Murder Pays a Call: A Keri Armstrong Cozy Mystery
by Nancy J Cohen

About Murder Pays A Call

Murder Pays a Call: A Keri Armstrong Cozy Mystery
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Florida
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orange Grove Press
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 9, 2025
Print length ‏ : ‎ 290 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1952886376
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1952886379
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0F8NNP8NN

Personal concierge Keri Armstrong will accept almost any job, but solving murders wasn’t on her to-do list—until now.
When personal concierge Keri Armstrong swings by her favorite client’s mansion to drop off groceries, she expects a heartfelt chat along with a cup of tea—not Fiona Sullivan dead in bed and her room ransacked. Though police chalk it up to a botched robbery, Keri isn’t so sure. Whispers around town suggest Fiona wasn’t as adored as Keri had believed, and many of the philanthropist’s so-called friends in affluent Sunny Grove, Florida seem glad she’s gone.

Keri refuses to let Fiona’s memory be reduced to malicious gossip. Armed with a keen eye, insider access, and a fully charged tablet, she sets out to uncover the truth. Soon her file of suspects grows faster than her to-do list. Between sneaky neighbors, resentful relatives, and tight-lipped charity board members, Fiona left behind a trail of frenemies who’d happily skip her memorial brunch.
As Keri digs deeper, she discovers her late mentor had a gift for extracting people’s secrets and using them like fine china—carefully storing them until they could serve a purpose. But Fiona also kept a few skeletons in her own walk-in closet. Now, with danger creeping closer, Keri must race to crack the case before her number comes up next… and Murder Pays a Call.

About Nancy J. Cohen

Nancy J. Cohen writes the Bad Hair Day Mysteries featuring South Florida hairstylist Marla Vail and the Keri Armstrong cozy mysteries. Her books have won numerous awards including her nonfiction titles, Writing the Cozy Mystery and A Bad Hair Day Cookbook. Active in the writing community, Nancy is a past president of Mystery Writers of America Florida Chapter. When not busy writing, she enjoys reading, fine dining, cruising, and visiting Disney World.

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My Thoughts

Murder Pays a Call by Nancy Cohen is a lighthearted cozy mystery set in sunny (scorching hot) Florida. Keri Armstrong is a wonderful concierge, but she needs to grow a backbone. Keri is a bit of a pushover, so she who needs to set boundaries (or people will walk all over her). She can, though, be determined as we see when she investigates Fiona’s murder. You can tell how much Keri cared for Fiona Sullivan, the victim. Keri sets out to find out who killed Fiona, because she is not one to sit on the sidelines and wait.

The suspect list ends up being quite lengthy, much to Keri’s astonishment. I joined Keri as she questioned people and collected clues. I wrote down who I thought was the killer and then waited for the reveal to see if I was right (I love solving whodunits). There are a variety of characters in the series that include Keri’s friends, Lora and Pam. Those who enjoyed Nancy Cohen’s Bad Hair Day Mysteries will be delighted with Murder Pays a Call. Romance is knocking on Keri’s door. It will be interesting to see who she picks. Murder Pays a Call is a cute cozy with a sudden death, surprising secrets, a surplus of suspects, catering to clients, curious clues, a chance at romance, and a killer reveal.

Excerpt

Since Lora was out, she had the place to herself. Grateful for the privacy, she put her meal in the oven and entered her bedroom to get changed. A legal-sized manila envelope lay on top of her bedspread, along with a note from Lora.

I picked this up at the front desk the other day and left it in your home office, but you may not have seen it. I’d forgotten about it until I went in there for some paper clips. Sorry; I hope it’s not too important.

Her heart lurched when she noticed the return address came from a lawyer. Hopefully, none of her clients were suing her. She tore open the seal with shaky fingers, and a leather-bound book slid out along with a scribbled note from the attorney.

Fiona Sullivan requested this item be mailed to you in the event of her death.

Her eyes widened as she recognized Fiona’s ledger. Fiona must have given it to the lawyer for safekeeping. But why had she made him wait until after her death to send it out?

Sinking onto the bed, Keri smoothed her hands over the worn cover. With bated breath, she opened the book and thumbed through its pages.

She scanned the entries, noting the sources that said Dad. Perhaps Fiona hadn’t wanted Keri to learn about her past. This would make it a lot easier to separate out the goods Crogher had given his daughter. Those needed further research into their provenance.

Another question begged an answer. How come Fiona had sent this to her instead of Diane? Fiona couldn’t have known Diane would hire Keri to help dispose of things.

Unless … Fiona had sent it to Keri because she didn’t trust Diane.

Murder Pays a Call is available from Amazon Kindle, Amazon Print, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble Nook, Barnes & Noble Print, Google Play, Kobo, Bookshop.org or Indiebound, and Books A Million. You can find Nancy J. Cohen's other novels here. Would you like to win a signed copy of Murder Pays a Call along with a daily planner and a set of ballpoint pens? You can click here to enter or use the form below. Leave a comment for an extra entry. Good Luck! Thank you for popping by today. I will return on Monday, September 15 with The Girl Who Trusted Ghosts by K.C. Tansley. It is the long awaited fourth book in The Unbelievables series. I hope that you have a relaxing weekend. I have the washer repairman coming over on Saturday, and I am hoping that it will be a simple fix (fingers crossed). Don't forget to enter the giveaway before you depart! Take care and Happy Reading!

Kris

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