The Glitter End: A Cozy Mystery (Stationery Shop Mystery, 3) Mass Market Paperback – September 28, 2021

The Stationery Shop Mystery series by Vivian Conroy is such a hoot to read !! This series is set in a little town in Montana called Tundish and the town is focused on gold mining and the Wild West. Main character Delta Douglas moved there to be closer to her college roommate Hazel and help her run her stationary shop, Wanted. While Delta is still getting use to small town living and getting to know the people and the businesses in town, she somehow gets entangled in a murder investigation. And The Glitter End, the third book in the series, is no different.In The Glitter End Delta invites Tilly Tay an artist that specializes in creating towns and people in the minature form to built a minature version of Tundish and display it in the shop for a few weeks to bring some business to the town as it heads into the slow winter months. Unfortunately shortly after Tilly arrives Delta witnesses her arguing with a gentleman whose identity she lies about. When the gentleman is found stabbed to death in town, Tilly is arrested for his murder. Delta and her friend Jonas feel that they need to look into the murder seeing as Delta is the one to bring this all into their small town.Not only does Delta have the murder to look into but her grandmother starts hanging around a man new to town and there are rumors that he isn't who he says he is. Delta is very close to her grandmother and will never forgive herself is her grandmother gets hurt or taken advantage of.Conroy keeps the reader thoroughly invested in The Glitter End till, well, the end actually and readers will wonder if family is always who they say they are as Delta and crew uncover a lot of secrets and shady characters in Tilly's life. And even though there was a murder readers will still want to pack a bag and hit the road to Tundish to check out the shops and the scenery.......

The Stationery Shop Mystery series by Vivian Conroy is slowly going downhill for me, but I keep hoping! I’ll try book four when it comes out, but if it doesn’t get better, I’ll be stopping since there are so many other cozy mystery series out there!In The Glitter End, Conroy continues to write fantastic descriptions of the town, and while her characters are developed, there is so much room to get to know the Paper Posse more. We get a bit more action with all the dogs in the story, but Hazel is lost in this book and the way she’s treating her potential romantic partner is getting old.And talking about romantic partners, Delta’s whole middle school attitude with her love interest really annoyed me. I found myself skimming those sections since it was basically her acting like a tween and not the strong protagonist she’s been in previous books.The mystery itself was good with a few red herrings, but once you find out what one of the people did for a living, it was pretty easy to guess it was them. Although I thought it was a team effort, so that was a nice twist at the end.If you’ve enjoyed the previous books in the Stationery Shop Mysteries, there’s a good chance you’ll like this one. But, if like me, you feel like they are missing the mark, you may want to get The Glitter End from the library to read before you decide to purchase your own copy.

A murder in miniature that imitates a real one. Quirky fun characters. A protagonist that you can relate to. An enjoyable read. The third in the Stationary Shop Mystery series delivers.

Dollycas’s ThoughtsTrying to drum up business now that the tourist season is over Stationery shop co-owner Delta Douglas has arranged to host a new miniature gold mining display. The display was bigger than she imagined so it takes up most of the floor space in Wanted but it was quite interesting to watch the artist place each miniature creation perfectly into the grand scheme of the entire display.When the display is revealed to the public Delta notices a tiny prospector appears dead. Later a man is found dead at a local hotel and the way his body is placed, it looks exactly like the dead prospector in the display. This leads the authorities to believe the artist is the killer. The death also hurts Wanted’s bottom line as the shop brought the artist to Tundish. So Delta lines up the members of the Paper Posse to help her track down the real killer to save her shop as quickly as possible.Delta came to Tundish, Montana to be an asset to Hazel. She feels it is important to keep things fresh and inviting to have customers year-round. But this time her grand idea of inviting artist Tilly Tay to showcase her miniature gold rush exhibit may do more damage to the stationary shop instead of making it more of a success. Tilly appears to have a history in Tundish which Delta tries to figure out when she sees her arguing on the street with a man. These characters are surrounded by a great supporting cast. I really enjoyed the subplot about Delta’s grandmother and her new boyfriend. It has a nice twist that was unexpected and put a smile on my face. Sadly Hazel is lost in this story playing a very minor role. Jonas helps in Delta’s investigation but I was disappointed by some of Delta’s behavior and her thoughts. It really took away from the main plot. There is plenty of room to flesh out the supporting cast. I do want to get to know them better.The mystery was interesting but it unfolded slowly and then ended abruptly for me. Tilly was what my mother would call an “odd duck”. She was very happy with her solitary life but that all blew up when she arrived in town. A relationship is revealed that shakes things up a bit but Delta seemed distracted. I wish there had been more depth to the mystery.I like the Montana setting and the miniature theme was fun for me. I had a hard time bringing the display totally into focus but know I would be first in line to see an exhibit like the one in this book.The Glitter End missed the mark for me at least as far as the main mystery goes. It didn’t have much glitter. I don’t think Hazel or the Paper Posse were utilized enough and Delta’s inner angst was off-putting. Delta’s independent grandmother and her new beau saved this book for me. The subplot was entertaining and could have ended two ways and I was curious about that right up until the end. That portion of the story has me adding an extra star.