Tagged for Death (Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mysteries)

After almost twenty years as an Air Force wife, Sarah Winston finds her husband, CJ, had a one night stand with a young woman also in the Air Force, resulting in Tiffany becoming pregnant. Sarah immediately divorces CJ, but stays in the area to rebuild her life.

One thing she loves to do is go going to garage sales on Saturdays, often returning to pick up donations for the thrift store on base near the end of the day. However, when she starts sorting through her most recent load of donations, she stumbles across two shirts covered in blood. Worse yet, she recognizes them as belonging to CJ and Tiffany. When she learns that Tiffany has disappeared, she truly begins to worry. What has happened to the young woman? And who planted the items in Sarah’s car?

The plot started out strongly and never really slowed down thanks to some sub-plots and red herrings. The characters were well developed as well. It all lead up to a climax I didn’t see coming but made perfect sense.

My only complaint involves the writing style. There are many short sentences, which made it feel choppy to me at times. I especially noticed this as a scene or chapter was starting. However, this was a minor complaint overall; I really did love this book.

So this is a debut to buy now. You’ll find the characters and story are a real bargain you’ll enjoy.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

What did I not like about this book? A lot would be the answer. The author evidently thinks that readers are on the dumb side because she uses a lot a words and precious reading time to "explain" things, I stated thinking that there might be a test at the end of the book. The other big thing that I didn't like was her main character is so stupid. Here are two big examples. 1. The local police are overtly harassing her, does she tell anyone? No. 2. Someone call her frequently shooting off a gun, does she tell anyone? No......and on and on. If you like realistic and smart characters you are out of luck if you are reading this mess. There are so many books far superior to this one.

By the time I reached page 52, I thought, "This is not going anywhere; I will not read any further." Then I asked, "That is only 1/6 of the book; is it fair to the author to quit now?"
So I read on to page 92 and wondered, "Nothing is happening! This is just boring." "But," I thought, "give it a little more time."
So I read on to page 108 and said to myself, "Enough! Why am I wasting time on this, when there are plenty of interesting cozy mysteries on my to-be-read list?"

Although I liked the book and the characters I'm only giving this 3 stars. The characters were somewhat well developed and I enjoyed the plot. However, I felt the ending was too rushed. I felt some important questions were not answered. Why was Deena so angry? Was she really behind the drug ring? Why would a smart girl like Tiffany agree to Tyler's plan? On the whole, it was unsatisfactory.I did like the military base setting.

"Tagged for Death" doesn't let you catch your breath for a moment. Sherry Harris has avoided the pitfall of having a slump in the middle of her book. She has packed in lots of emotion and tension, something that isn't always easy for a writer to do. She blends the charm of a cozy and the tension of a suspense novel. Her main character doesn't lack for courage. In fact, there were times I wanted to shout, "Don't go in there." Sarah Winston exhibits a lot of character--willing to help her ex-husband, even after he has turned their lives upside down. It was interesting reading the tips for conducting a successful yard sale, which she weaves throughout her story, and to see how she discovers that her organizational talents can help others and give her employment. Having been in the military, I followed the military aspects of her story with great interest. It brought back a lot of good memories. I look forward to the next book in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale series. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery--both cozy lovers and others.

I LOVED this book!

Usually with a book, especially Cozies, I can pick apart all sorts of little things that I don't like about it but I really can't tell you anything I didn't like about this book... in fact, I couldn't put this one down! Not only is the plot well developed, the characters relatable and lovable, but the pacing was pretty much on point.

I loved Sarah and how she carried and presented herself around people who were being so ugly to her, and I also loved how the author showed a very ugly aspect of divorce- friends and family choosing sides.

The ending was a HUGE shock, one that I didn't even see coming, and although I hate 'kind of' cliff-hangers, I adored this one. Can't wait to see what the next book has to offer!

***I would like to point out one thing, though. In the summary it talks about how Sarah's husband has "run off" with a 19 year old and that's not true. While there was an affair, he didn't run away with the girl.

It was a good read. Not too predictable. had a few twists that out guess the reader

I had to have this book because my maiden name is Ellington!

I enjoyed this first of a new series very much, can't wait for the next one!

You might expect a cozy mystery about yard sales (that's how they say it in the Midwest) to be light and breezy, but this cozy mystery is more than that. It has depth, surprises, and consequences for its characters. I liked seeing how the tag-sale business evolved and I especially liked being wrong about whodunit.