Kari Jacobs is settling in to her new life in cozy Appleton, North Carolina. Her former client, Ashley Butler, has now become her current friend and roommate. The two of them and Kari’s adorable Great Dane, Shortbread, are getting along so well that Kari has decided to get a companion puppy as a gift for Ashley. It’s the least that Kari can do to thank Ashley for cooking her delicious Southern comfort food!
Kari’s professional life in Appleton isn’t as established as her personal life, however. She still has to prove herself as a young lawyer at the job that she moved from San Francisco to take. But her latest client, Prescott Cooter, isn’t making that easy on her.
He’s the owner of the town dump and also a hobbyist bowler. When a dead body is found at the dump, with his bowling ball beside it, everyone concludes that Mr. Cooter is obviously the murderer and that the case is closed. Kari is convinced there’s more to the story, but Mr. Cooter has always been an odd duck and now he seems more content to stay behind bars than to be bothered helping Kari form his defense.
It looks like it’s all up to Kari to figure out who the real culprit could be and find the reasonable doubt necessary to help her client’s case. When she discovers a connection between Mr. Cooter, the victim and the mayor’s wife, she begins to suspect that the murder was committed by someone with a lot more power in the town than Mr. Cooter is able to wield.
Can Kari and her sidekicks–human and pets–fight the town’s political forces in time to win her client’s case, and save her job?
Mr. Cooter’s Bowling Ball is book 3 in the Kari Jacobs Lawyer Sleuth cozy mystery series. The main mystery is solved in each book and they can be read as standalones, but they’re best enjoyed all together due to continued character interactions.
*INCLUDES ASHLEY’S SOUTHERN CAJUN SHRIMP AND FISH COUBION RECIPE!*