#NetGalley Book Review: Winter Takes All by ML Erdahl

This is a fun cozy – even in a cold setting.
Winter Takes All
by ML Erdahl

File Size: 2504 KB
Print Length: 202 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc (October 23, 2019)
ASIN: B07XCGWDRX
Genre: Amateur Sleuths, Cozy Mystery, Humorous, Mystery
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0.

Crystal Rainey is aghast when she realizes her new year's resolutions haven't changed one whit from the previous year. Wanting to escape a future as dreary as a Pacific Northwest winter, she walks out on her dead-end office job, despite her tenuous savings account.
Stumbling across a job opening posted by a wilderness guide outfit, an intrigued Crystal bluffs her way into the position. With handsome fellow guide, the stalwart Conner Oakes, she leads a corporate retreat on a snowshoe hike to a majestic alpine chalet.
But when the company's detestable owner turns up dead in the snow, she fears her new life and budding romance slipping away. She finally has something worth fighting for and is determined to solve the murder and grab her chance at happiness before it's too late.

Review:
Crystal is already thinking about changing her life when her unpleasant supervisor scolds her for being five minutes late after walking through the rain. On a sudden impulse, Crystal decides to quit her dead-end clerical job. But she can’t be out of work long as she has bills to pay. She stumbles onto an advertisement for a wilderness guide. After bluffing her way to getting hired she needs to pick up snowshoes and learn how to use them.

When she arrives for her first outing, she is pleasantly surprised to meet her handsome fellow guide, Conner. Together they lead a corporate group on a hike up the mountain to a beautiful chalet. Crystal is pleased things seem to be going well, even the friendship with Conner, until late a night the guests get into a fight. The next morning the company owner turns up dead and the wilderness outfit has to shut down guide activities until the murder can be solved.

Crystal isn’t impressed by the young detective, so she sets out to interview all of the company employees herself. She tries to make it casual and gets through a couple before one of the employees begins to suspect she is sticking her nose in where it doesn’t belong. Crystal continues to press on but will she press too hard and get caught up by the murderer?

I was pulled into the story right away by Crystal’s light character. Crystal is a fun, kind character and it is easy to root for her to make good on her new job. Of course, the reader can also see that Crystal is pushing herself into trouble. Conner is a nice romantic possibility who adds side interest to the mystery.

This is an easy read cozy mystery which I really enjoyed. I was pleasantly surprised myself to realize the author is a male. Nice job! I would like to read more in the series. I recommend this to fans of humorous cozy mystery.

Source: NetGalley 2019. This qualifies for 2020TBR, 2020NetGalley and 2020Alphabet goals.