Today, I am reviewing The Branson Beauty by Claire Booth for TLC Book Tours. As always, I am provided with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
About the book (from the publisher): The Branson Beauty, an old showboat, has crashed in the waters of an Ozark mountain lake just outside the popular destination of Branson, Missouri. More than a hundred people are trapped aboard. Hank Worth is still settling into his new role as county sheriff, and when he responds to the emergency call, he knows he’s in for a long winter’s day of helping elderly people into rafts and bringing them ashore. He anticipates a lot of anxiety, many arguments, and extra costs for emergency equipment that will stretch the county’s already thin budget to the breaking point. But those are the least of his worries after he discovers high school track star Mandy Bryson’s body locked inside the Captain’s private dining room.
My review: This is Claire Booth’s first novel and I’m so glad she has emerged on the mystery scene. She plans to write a series revolving around Hank Worth and Branson, Missouri and that is good news, indeed. Her style is so assured, so rich, that it’s hard to believe this is her debut as a novelist.
In Hank Worth, we have a protagonist who is fascinating and will be the perfect central character for a series of mysteries. Married to a doctor, the father of two young children, he’s left the big city to move to Branson after the death of his mother-in-law. The new household consists of his family and his father-in-law, who takes care of the children when the daily demands on a doctor and sheriff turn to long hours away from home. He’s learning about Branson and his solid strength of character is going to come into play as he stands up to those in power.
Booth creates a fascinating cast of characters: the officer who feels he should have been awarded the job of sheriff; the owner of The Branson Beauty, a powerful business man whose tentacles are everywhere in the county; the young police officer Worth calls The Pup, because of his eagerness to do the job well; bereaved parents; and a group of locals who add a great deal of flavor to the plot.
Booth is a very good writer who pens an intricate plot seemingly effortlessly. She manages the details of the story, planting a clue here and there, sending us off on the trail of the murderer, where, like any good mystery, one path veers off into another, and another. Along the way, Worth finds corruption and greed, obsession and obfuscation. Yet, Booth laces all of this with a streak of wonderfully dry humor that enriches the story.
I really enjoyed this novel and, I’m not exaggerating, couldn’t put it down. It’s so well written. Branson itself is fascinating, set as it is in the Ozarks, a town and a county where the emergence of an entertainment strip has changed the face of that neck of the woods. I’ve never been there, but Booth’s skill as a writer makes me feel as if I have.
You’ll like this book.
About the author: Claire Booth spent more than a decade as a daily newspaper reporter, much of it covering crimes so convoluted and strange they seemed more like fiction than reality. Eventually, she had enough of the real world and decided to write novels instead. Her Sheriff Hank Worth mystery series takes place in Branson, Missouri, where small-town Ozark politics and big-city country music tourism clash in, yes, strange and convoluted ways.
Good news! One of you will win a copy of The Branson Beauty. Just leave a comment on this post and I will pick a winner on Wednesday evening. Good luck!
Happy Monday.
Sounds like a fun book to read during this hot spell we are having.
I would love to win this book! I’m not normally a reader of mysteries, but this one sounds really good. My sister lives in AR and they travel to Branson often for mini getaways. This would make a great gift for her….. after I read it, of course!
Need to add this book to the reading list.
Another enticing book (review)!
Not only do I like mysteries, the Ozarks is where my husband and I had our honeymoon 30 + years ago.
Trina
It’s always great to learn of a new writer, and from a thoughtful and reliable source!
This sounds like a good light mystery-just what I like!
Been looking for a new author and Clare Booth sounds like the one. Like Doris said ” this hot weather calls for staying inside reading a good book!” Thanks Claudia for a great book review.
DEB
Summertime+ New Mystery Read= Perfection!
Perfect hot weather reading! I checked both libraries in my area and neither have this…boo-hiss…..
This sounds really good. Another new author, yay! Thanks for the review!
hugs,
Linda
I think you introduced me to Louise Penny. I’m a newcomer to the mystery genre. This author will go on my TBR list. I’ve already won a book giveaway from your blog, so let someone else have a turn. Just wanted to leave a comment;)
New mystery? Count me in please!! ;)
This sounds like my kind of book. It seems I am in need of a trip to the local Ft Worth Library.
I would love to win this, since I live only an hour from Branson and have been there many times!!
This book sounds like one my husband and I both would love. It’s always great to read the first book in a new series too.
Well, the novel certainly has a unique location. I, too, know nothing about Branson although I have been privileged to see other parts of Missouri on a ‘roots’ fact-finding vacation, as I have many ancestors on the maternal side who hail from there. It was a real treat, having done our homework, to see where the Missouri farms of my ‘forefathers’ had been (I was lucky to have some old property records from the 1800s)…was bare land when I saw it in the 80s (beautiful, green valley)…and go to the old cemetery where my great-great grandparents are buried. One of the ancients had been a postmistress of a small settlement, any trace of people a century later long gone. A large contingent of the family made their life further west and to larger cities as time went on. I was surprised at the time how remote and isolated so much of the Ozark hill country is…I felt like I was transplanted/transported to another era…which is clearly not the case of Branson, which grew all those entertainment theaters I’ve always heard about; I can imagine a lake being a vacation draw but it always seemed a odd location for these theaters (genius idea, actually!). I do know one thing: June was when I was in Missouri for a couple of weeks, and the weather was WILD. Big storms, a lot of thunder and pounding rain, power failures; kinda exciting! I loved visiting…it was such a great trip for me and my folks.
So, yeah, as usual, despite mysteries and detective novels not being exactly my ‘thing’ – your reviews make me open to going outside my comfort zone and trying a new ‘read’ (this sounds like a good one!), so thanks for sharing your thoughts about the book.
It was already 80 degrees an hour ago so I’m outta here to do errands and appointments early before it gets much worse. Stay cool in NY! I am always surprised to hear you are sort of ‘drought-ish’ there, same as us in SoCalif…
Wonderful feature and giveaway. Great mystery and locale which interests me. Love your excellent review.
I am always looking for mystery series. I like to get to know the characters. This series sounds like it will be very good. Thanks, Claudia.
Thanks for sharing this new author with us, Claudia! I love the Branson area, and my husband and I enjoyed a dinner show on the Branson Belle last fall, which I’m sure is the ship this book is based on. I can’t wait to read it!
Sounds like an interesting read. I’m always looking for a new mystery series. I think I will suggest this to my mystery book club.
Pick me, pick…this sounds like a GREAT book!
I just started reading mysteries and I would like to add this interesting book to my collection. Have a great day!!
I look forward to finding this book in my local library, if I don’t win the give-away! Thanks, Claudia.
I am reading Louise Penny right now! Just started the series. I never read mysteries, but in the past year have read and enjoyed several. This one sounds good, and the prospect of a series is always a fun thing.
Hope you are having a good Monday, and staying cool. It has been stupid hot and humid here for the past many days. ugh.
It sounds like a great summer read!
Hope you are staying cool in this heat!
You have me intrigued, and I am a serial addict.
I don’t live too far from Branson, and have visited there at least once a year or more since I was a little girl. I would thoroughly enjoy reading this book!
Sounds like my kind of book. Pick me, please.
Claudia, I think this book should be mine! ;)
My great great grandmother was Mary Ann Branson, who was brought to Missouri around 1840 with her 4 brothers by her grandfather. Her parents had died in Tennessee and left the children as orphans, so grandfather Thomas went back to get them and brought them to Missouri. Branson, Missouri was founded by GGGG Uncle, Reuben Branson.
I would love to read a story of the area!
Claudia, this sounds like a good read! Thank you for sharing it.
Thank you for sharing it! Looks like a good vacation reading!
I would love to have the opportunity to read this book.
Thanks
Linda
What a great review, and how nice it would be to have a book that I don’t want to put down. I’m trying to read a best-selling novel that came with a lot of hype, and I keep nodding off. Time for a good mystery!
Thank you for bringing this book to our attention. It sounds like a great read. First in a new series…even better!
Love mysteries!
I wouldn’t normally read a book like this but I would like to learn about the Branson area. Thanks for the review.
I hope I am not too late for the giveaway. I enjoy every book you recommend and would love to win this one. Diane
I am late to the party! County fair this week and I am a superintendent. Branson Missouri is about a 3 to 4 hour drive from me. Haven’t been there in several years tho. This sounds like an interesting read. Thanks Claudia. pam
I so appreciate when an author can make me really experience a setting, particularly when it is a place I’ve never been.
Thanks for being a part of the tour!