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Sonia Parin

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End of the Lane (A Dear Abby Cozy Mystery Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Sonia Parin (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.3 1,409 ratings

Book 1 of 8: A Dear Abby Cozy Mystery

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Abby Maguire’s first day in a new town and new job could be her last. Instead of writing about the weekend bake sale, she has to give a statement to the police. It seems the small town of Eden is not the idyllic place she'd imagined it to be. There's a killer on the loose but the finger of suspicion is pointed at Abby.

Clean read: no graphic violence, sex, or strong language but lots of fun, quirky dialogue & characters.

Editorial Reviews

Review

★★★★★I LOVE this book. The writing flowed, the story drew me in immediately and the characters were incredibly likable. Abby flies halfway around the world to start a new life as a small-town newspaper reporter in Australia. Her first assignment is supposed to be about cake, of all things, but instead she finds herself investigating the murder of her new boss. This is sincerely the perfect cozy mystery. It is fast-paced, lighthearted, fun and engaging. I will be keeping my eye out for more books by Sonia Parin. NetgalleyShelly H, Reviewer.★★★★★"End of the Lane" by Sonia Parin had me by the cover with its atmospheric illustration, a cute doggy and the phrase "cozy mystery." Loved it! 5/5 - Netgalley Literary S, Reviewer

★★★★★
I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read more from this series. It is well written and clean, and will keep you guessing until the end. - Netgalley Ann F, Reviewer

★★★★★This is the first book in A Dear Abby Cozy Mystery series and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED it! Quirky, gossipy yet loving - this is how I would describe the people of Eden. How can I not mention the Lamington's cake! That is the main attraction of the story! Abby's first assignment was the weekend's bake sale - the Lamington's cake - sponge cake dipped in chocolate sauce and rolled in desiccated coconut. Sounds delicious! There is a recipe of the same at the end of the book. The writing was informal and neat. I loved the author's writing style. The plot and the story are marvelous. The ending was unexpected and good. Abby does prove to be a good crime reporter! Each and every character in the book play an important role in the story. It goes without saying that Doyle was a cute little darling - the star of the story. Abby is the second best character in the story - her detective skills are excellent. If Abby is second best, then who is first, you ask? Doyle, of course! End of the Lane is a cute, charming and wonderful cozy mystery. - Netgalley Rekha R, Reviewer

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B078YWMY22
Publisher ‏ : ‎ (January 11, 2018)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 11, 2018
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 766 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 206 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #367,615 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #2,472 in Cozy Culinary Mystery
- #5,237 in Cozy Animal Mystery
- #7,923 in Cozy Animal Mysteries

Customer Reviews:
4.3 1,409 ratings

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Sonia Parin

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USA TODAY Bestselling Author Sonia Parin writes humorous cozy mysteries with quirky characters and entertaining dialogue. Her characters are described as realistic with a sense of fun, which is great because her aim is to provide lighthearted entertainment and pure escapism. She has a degree in Fine Arts and loves to cook and bake.

For regular updates, first chapters, & tidbits please visit http://soniaparin.com or check in on Twitter and Facebook. https://twitter.com/SoniaParin, https://www.facebook.com/SoniaParin/

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

1,409 global ratings

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T Klassy

Fun assortment of characters

Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2020

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This was an easy read with just enough drama to keep it interesting. The characters were quite diverse and added good balance to the book. Nothing graphic or haunting which I appreciated. I like to read for relaxation so don't want something that makes me all uptight. A good who-dun-it mystery.

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Beckett Shiona

Editing Errors, But Excellent Plot, Characters

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2019

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I truly enjoyed all the quirky characters (a whole village of oddballs who glory in their kookiness!) and the "reluctant sleuth" plot of this unusual cozy mystery, as well as the setting Down Under. A number of other reviewers have mentioned editing errors, and those were definitely noticeable--more about that in a moment--but the book was, nevertheless, a lot of fun. The editing errors threw me off a number of times, though, and since I was reading a Kindle edition, I'm uncertain why they haven't been cleaned up with an Update. I would have given the book 5 stars but for these errors. For instance, the word "pore" or "poring", as in, looking through, was misspelled as "pouring" at least twice. At one point, although the poison under discussion throughout the book was cyanide, the main character, asking a question of a suspect, suddenly refers to it as arsenic. On another page, main character Abby is suddenly referred to as Lexie. Huh?! The word "has" is used in a sentence where "have" would have been correct; the pronoun "her" where "his" was intended--these are simply careless errors that should have been caught with good editing. Although they didn't put me off the book, which I truly liked, I hope the author will take her reviews to heart and issue a clean, updated edition of this enjoyable mystery.

31 people found this helpful

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Kim Templeton

Quick and Fun Cozy

Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2019

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This is a wonderful quick read and beginning to a series. I really enjoyed this mystery, it has several twists and turns along the way. I never suspected the killer or why they did it. I love Abby’s character, how she is changing her life after heartbreak. I also love how she rescued the little dog. Okay, I will admit it I just love the little dog and his personality. He is probably my favorite character although Abby and other characters are very likable. The setting of a small town although not in America still seems very relatable to me being from a small town. I recommend this book to other mystery lovers.

I voluntarily agreed to read a copy of this book supplied by NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own and in no way have been influenced.

5 people found this helpful

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Maria V.

Easy Read for a Cozy Mystery

Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2022

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This book was about a woman starting over in a small Alaskan town and was an "easy read" as I seemed to get through the chapters fast! 🙂

Only downside: it was like every other cozy mystery I've read lately that insists on using obscure words when they could just use simple, everyday terms instead!! (..In the beginning, I thought it was going to be different..but a few chapters in..had to break out the dictionary, Google antique furniture items and clothing items too.)😔

It's a good story and keeps you guessing to the end (which I love..although I try to "solve it" before..lol). No profanity and sexual innuendos..just a good, clean & decent murder mystery with a nice "homey feel" to it.👍🏽😊

2 people found this helpful

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Sharon B

Good Cozy Mystery!

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2022

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I really enjoyed this mystery and can't wait to read the next one! Abby is new to the town, and when she goes to visit her new boss she finds him dead. This is the story of how she solves his murder and gets to know the people in the town! Highly recommend if you like cozy mysteries!

One person found this helpful

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catlover

An enjoyable and relaxing story.

Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2020

Verified Purchase

I'm pretty sure I got this book through Bookbub as I seldom purchase new authors. I finally read it last night and I purchased the rest of the series this morning. I really enjoyed it and look forward to continue reading about Abby and Doyle. I like the characters, the fact that the book flowed smoothly without feeling forced, and the setting. Other reviews mention the quirky characters, and they sre, but not obnoxiously so to the point of ridiculous. I did not notice a lot of editing errors, just a couple of blips but nothing to pull me out of the story. All in all this is a smoothly flowing light read without ugliness or disgusting langusge that has interesting characters and situations enough to keep pulling you through the story.

14 people found this helpful

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Aurora

A Fun, Easy Read

Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2018

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Sonia Parin is an author to watch. This quick, fun, clean (no bad language, not even innuendos) read is a good way to pass a sunny day at poolside or on the beach. A young reporter flees from love gone wrong to a small town and new job on the other side of the world. On her first day she acquires a stray, stumbles upon a dead body, makes friends with a cafe owner, and moves into a pub. The characters are relatable and the hints at backgrounds are enough to leave the reader eager to know more. This is mind candy at its best!

13 people found this helpful

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Thomas

A nice start to a series.

Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2020

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Abby McGuire has traveled 1/2 way across the world for her new job. Just to find her new boss dead as she arrives to introduce herself.
Abby is a reporter, who once covered a murder and was enough to turn her off from murder investigations. And she's not even sure if she'll still have a job once the murderer is discovered.

This was a slow, but steady paced story that had mostly developed questions, and a decent story line.
I really enjoy a different series written by Sonia Parin. I will be reading the next in this series to help make up my mind as to how well I like this series.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Raven

End of the Lane

Reviewed in Canada on March 11, 2021

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LOVED this book . . . main character was thoroughly likeable . . . lots of plot twists . . . highly recommend . . . 😊

One person found this helpful

SH

Somewhat incoherent

Reviewed in Germany on March 20, 2022

Verified Purchase

I don't really know what to make of this book. The small town setting is typical of cozy mysteries but Australia is a nice change from the usual settings in the UK or US. Several of the characters seem interesting; not always completely realistic but you just have to have a lot of loveable characters in that sort of book.
What irritated me a little is the fact that the various scenes often don't hang together. Sometimes the author shifts her focus to a different scene before the previous one has really finished. That's especially annoying at the end, where you more or less have to guess what has happened, and later you learn about it from the dialogue between the protagonists, but it's left out in the actual story.
I think with better storytelling there would have been more suspense and also more human interest. As it is, it failed to grab my attention. It's a leisurely read where you don't mind getting interrupted.

5 people found this helpful

Miss T

Great read with humour despite the murder!!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 23, 2019

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I enjoyed this book, very different to her 1920's series set in England but still well written and researched. Even includes a recipe for Lamingtons.. I admit to copy and pasting as I haven't had one in 20 years and I am definitely going to try them, I do recommend adding the jam though as no matter where I went in Australia they all contained jam or had a layer prior to the chocolate coating!!

Back to the book.. our heroine, a lifestyle reporter, has left Seattle for a small town in Victoria, Australia following a difficult relationship break down. Along her drive she finds a stray dog, who is looking the worst for wear, and in need of rescue. On arrival she finds her new boss's dead body and somewhat overwhelmed decides to look into it while waiting to find out if she still has a job.

Enter the local detective, her colleague, the town's coffee shop owner and her new "landlords" at the town's only bar and hotel and her sidekick dog who she's adopted by default. As the locals welcome her arrival in their typically Australian way, captured very well indeed, she's encouraged to dig around for information on the killer.

Having experienced the joys of turning up in small town Australia and being welcomed enthusiastically and quirkily I can testify that Ms Parin has done a great job with her characters and setting.

Can't wait for the next one!

One person found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Delightful

Reviewed in Australia on July 3, 2019

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I totally love this book. I can't wait to read more stories about Abby, Doyle and their supportive friends as they solve mysteries with flair.

Sandee L

Good characters in a new environment

Reviewed in Canada on December 26, 2019

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Abby moves from the US to Australia to escape a life that had become disappointing and sad. There she encounters a murder, a town full of interesting characters and some very nice looking men. I liked this book. The situations Abby encounters are a little different than I expected but familiar enough that my expectations were met.

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End of the Lane (A Dear Abby Cozy Mystery Book 1) Kindle Edition

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