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Seaside Secrets (Dune House Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) by [Cindy Bell]

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Cindy Bell

Seaside Secrets (Dune House Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Cindy Bell (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

291 ratings

Book 1 of 20: Dune House Cozy Mystery Series

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Suzie Allen gets a call to inform her that her estranged Uncle Harry has passed away and has unexpectedly left her Dune House, a beautiful house on the beach that was once a Bed and Breakfast. With her best friend, Mary, going through a messy divorce, the two decide to get away and go to the small town of Garber to see the house.

Despite the stunning setting, the house has been neglected for years and is in a terrible state of disrepair. Suzie and Mary make the decision to refurbish the house together.

But then, Suzie and Mary start finding evidence that maybe Uncle Harry didn’t die of natural causes. Suzie’s investigative background as a journalist takes over and the ladies go on a search to discover what secrets the house holds. Will these secrets reveal a dark side to Suzie’s strange cousin, Jason?

Was the decision to refurbish Dune House the worst mistake of their lives? Or is this the beginning of an exciting new chapter?

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165 pages
Language

English
Publication date

April 27, 2014
File size

1552 KB
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Product details

ASIN : B00JZDM9CA
Publication date : April 27, 2014
Language : English
File size : 1552 KB
Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 165 pages
Lending : Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #48,554 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #2,071 in Cozy Mystery
- #2,198 in Women Sleuths (Kindle Store)
- #2,533 in Women Sleuths (Books)

Customer Reviews:
291 ratings

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5 star		49%
4 star		25%
3 star		18%
2 star		5%
1 star		3%

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C Thilmany

Too simplistic

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2015

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Definitely a light read; too light. Very simplistic story about a woman who inherits an old rundown house on a beach that had once been a bed and breakfast. She and her best friend go to check it out and while cleaning it up, discover a mystery.

There’s no real depth to the either the tale or the characters. It had more of a feel of reading a book report than a mystery. No twists and turns. No feel of being in a character’s head to experience their emotions. The climatic confrontation started off with some promise, but that too was glossed over.

Picked this up when it was offered for free, but I can’t see myself reading any others in this series.

36 people found this helpful

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angelpeaches

Seaside Secrets (Dune House Cozy Mystery...

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2017

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Seaside Secrets (Dune House Cozy Mystery...is about Suzie Allen, who recently found out that her uncle had passed away and left her his house. Suzie remembers it well from when she was a child, but she hadn't kept in touch with her aunt and uncle and didn't even know that her aunt had previously passed away. Suzie also has a past job history as an investigative reporter and she has studied interior decorating. Naturally these two things come in handy for restoring the Dune House and finding out what really happened to her uncle. Suzie takes her friend Mary (who is in a bad marriage and her husband is in the midst of filing for a divorce) to the town of Garber. Not only has the town gotten run down, but when Suzie and Mary see Dune House, they see, that also is in disrepair. Suzie remembers it as looking like a palace and wonders if it's even worth putting money into repairing the house. Her friend Mary convinces her that after an initial cleaning that then they will be able to see better what needs to be done to restore the house. As they are looking at Dune House, Jason, the cousin that Suzie has never met, approaches them, and asks if she's selling the house. Jason is a well respected police officer in the town and tries every chance he gets to get Suzie to sell the house. It seems that the mayor has plans for that property (he wants to sell it to developers to make a resort) and will go to any expense to get it. In fact, the mayor has most of the town of Garber in his pocket. This makes things easy for the mayor to get whatever he wants no matter what. But as Suzie and Mary are cleaning the house they come upon items that lead Suzie to believe that her uncle didn't die of natural causes. She suspects that he was killed. Jason keeps telling her to not get involved with the mayor who has invited her and Mary to dinner. Jason knows it's just so the mayor can talk Suzie into giving the house to him and then he would sell the house. But there are too many questions that need to be answered and she's bound to keep digging to get the answers. Will Suzie find out the real reason that her uncle left the house to her and not her cousin? Will Suzie and Mary be safe while questioning the people of Garber? The author gives enough background of the characters and situations that the reader can easily know what's coming next, so the ending isn't a surprise. But this is a good beach read for the summer and I'm waiting to read the second book in the series.

2 people found this helpful

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BooksinVT

Quick and Easy

Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2015

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Seaside Secrets is the first installment in the Dune House Mystery series. Suzie Allen is a retired investigative journalist with dreams of restoring old historic buildings, but her finances won't allow her to purchase anything in her hometown of Burlington. Mary Brent is Suzie's best friend, an empty nester who is in the middle of a nasty divorce.

Suzie receives a phone call that her Uncle Harry has passed away and left her "Dune House", his majestic old home on the beach in Garber. Suzie and Mary arrive to find the house almost in ruins from years of neglect and that Mayor Thomas Ralley is anxious to purchase the property so he can bulldoze it down and start new development in the sleepy town.

Deciding that she can not let her Uncle's home be destroyed, Suzie and Mary set about cleaning and renovating parts of the house with the idea of returning it to the B&B her Aunt and Uncle had been running prior to her Aunt's death. Suzie discovers an old lockbox under the floorboards containing clues that might mean her Uncle hadn't passed away from a sudden heart attack, and that the townspeople may be hiding something.

This is a very short book taking only an afternoon to read. Not much depth to the characters but hopefully they will evolve as the series continues. It was pretty easy to identify the villain with the standard motive of greed.

A charming cozy is how I would best describe the book; the friendship between Suzie and Mary is fun, and Suzie's relationship with her newfound cousin, Jason (who is also the Chief of Police) started off on rocky footing but definitely has potential for future installments.

2 people found this helpful

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Betty V

Great read

Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2018

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Read as part of a boxed set. The boxed set was an enjoyable start to the series. The main characters are two great friends who go off and refurbish a B & B that sets the groundwork for the story. I like the idea of two women who embrace life with enthusiasm and get as much fun as possible out of it. While each story is stand alone, the author does a really nice job of slowly building the people, Dune House, and the town with each new aspect being built around a mystery. As I read these stories, I found my self-involved in the lives of these characters and watching how all the main characters develop.

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R.H. McCort

but her best friend Mary's ugly divorce seems like the best time ...

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2014

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If you want a laughing out loud book this is for you.

Suzie Allen gets an unexpected surprise when her Uncle Harry leaves his seaside home to his niece. She doesn't know why, but her best friend Mary's ugly divorce seems like the best time for Mary and Suzie to go find out why.

Cousin Jason, a police officer seems to have unknown reason for not wanting to come to his father's house, but offers Suzie any assistant she might need, while she and Mary begin cleaning.

The story is great, funny and leaves you wanting more ...I really hope Cindy Bell will be writing book 2 soon.

10 people found this helpful

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Terri

Careful who you trust

Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2020

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This is a really good story. I liked the characters, Mary, Susie and Jason. I think they are going to be having more adventures and with the three of them working together I'm sure they can work them all out like they did this time, just sorry two people had to die before it happened, but they got the person responsible. I believe I'm going to enjoy this series and am ready to read the next story.

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Top reviews from other countries

Clare O'Beara

Seaside secrets

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2017

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This is a quick read novella, setting up for a series about amateur sleuths.

The first few pages are a local history lesson; then the phone rings and the lady who answers thinks of another page of history before we get started. Much better would have been just to start the story and then feed in the backstory through conversations and letters - as largely happens anyway. A single lady, retired from having been a journalist, and her friend whose husband is divorcing her, head off to a beachside house which the singleton has inherited. This old building used to be a B&B but at the time they find it, the elderly owner had lived reclusively for a few years so in good female style they take to cleaning up and seeing how much repair work is needed.

Some mysterious issues between the deceased man and his son, the local police officer, cloud the inheritance, and some prominent local citizens also feel the house should be bulldozed. Maybe the land is worth more for development, or maybe there are other reasons.

I have to take against a scene at the end. Nobody but nobody would willingly sit in a chair to be tied up when the petrol has been spread and the matches produced. Nobody. Why not pick up a weapon or grab a bucket of water? Why not keep arguing to buy time? Why not fumble for your phone to call 911 as you talk or run? He's threatening to shoot your friend? Your friend is going to die anyway if the place goes on fire. Other than this stupidity I liked the story.

The series seems to be aimed at mature ladies and does not as yet feature a dog, cat or cookery but it might be only a matter of time before it fits the stereotypes. I would read more as I am guessing the B&B will be reopened and turn into a lively place.

I downloaded a free copy. This is an unbiased review.

Noreen

sun, sea, sand, renovation, murder or not

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 10, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is the first book I've read by this author. Found it very slow going at first. In fact I even read a couple of chapters, put it down for several weeks while I read somethIng else. I decided to get back to it just to check out what it was about. Not bad in the end. Apart from the slow start I think it actually became quite interesting. I'll probably read the next book in this series.

One person found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Answer obvious from the start so nothing mysterious

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 7, 2017

Verified Purchase

An okay cozy. Not spectacular by any means but a solid read. A behest of a house by the sea has two friends going to clean it up. Did the previous owner die of natural causes? What is the significance of the photos and the cufflink? The killer was obvious from the start so really it wasn't really a mystery. But well written.

Shelly

Excellent entertaining read!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 11, 2016

Verified Purchase

I started reading Seaside Secrets yesterday and couldn't put it down! just finished reading it today, thoroughly enjoyed reading the first book in the Dune House series, reminded me a little of the Nancy Drew books I ready many years ago when in my early teens. Have already downloaded book 2 in the series hoping this will be as good if not better than the 1st book

David L Dawson

Great

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 25, 2015

Verified Purchase

I read cozy mysteries by the bucketload. They all follow similar patterns but are no less entertaining. I love Seaside Secrets. The mystery is fairly good and the characters warm and funny. Highly recommended.

One person found this helpful

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