Book 4 in the series.

Ellison and co. are back. After going to a haunted house with friends, Ellison's daughter Grace misses curfew. Ellison sets off to find her, but finds two scary clowns instead. One's covered in blood and dies right in front of her, after calling her name! The other is holding a knife. When Ellison comes back with help, they've both disappeared.

Now Ellison is faced with several protective men, a killer clown and a missing murder victim.

Having lived in Kansas during my teen years (80s though, not the the 70s), I have a pretty good idea what area of KC these are set in, so that's a huge plus for me. I love mysteries set in real places.

Ellison is a nice strong female character and I really enjoy the humor in this series. My only peeve about this series so far is the terrible love triangle trope as two men vie for Ellison's attention. I'm heartily sick of this plot device in everything!

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This is the fourth book in the Country Club Murders series, which is an entertaining, humorous, lovely, lovely series. This one features clowns, as in the title, and of the four books in the series, this is my least favorite.

Ellison is still the same: great, capable and poised. Her relationship with Mr. Coffee is mentioned constantly. Like several times a chapter often. Supporting characters remain very consistent to what you would expect of them, and no less wonderful for that. I think the main issue I had was the clown aspect. It just seemed a bit improbable, unlikely, and crazy. The story felt rushed, as if there was no time to exhale. The interaction with her Father is becoming more rounded, but I am not sure of the direction in which he is being taken.

Definitely looking forward to the next one in the series, as I have grown quite attached to Ellison, and I like the writing of the author.

**eARC Netgalley**

This is so very good.


I've said this last time but it bears repeating: This series is so fun and the characters are amazing. There is a more serious undertone now that Ellison is trying to be independent in the 70's and it's making the books even better.

The love triangle is great. I'm 90% rooting for the losing side but I'm still waiting for my hopes to get crushed firmly to give up. I wish it could go on for longer.

4.5 stars

I don't pay for many ebooks, but I bought this one because I just had to have my Ellison Russell fix. This is a fabulous series - probably in my top 3 favourites.

Another fun read in this cozy series set in the 70s. The Halloween themed murder with a murderous clown had some genuine chills in the scene where our heroine Ellison finds a murder in progress in a haunted house. Ellison also ends up in conflict with her father who insists on treating her like a little girl and keeps telling her what to do, despite Ellison being a widow with a grown daughter. That was surprising since up to now, it was her mother who played the heavy in her life.

Send in the Clowns is a book which I have had on my Kindle for quite a while and never really felt in the mood to tackle. This is set in the 70s, a time period I lived through, and that holds a certain appeal to me. It is part of the Country Club series of mysteries. This is a lighter humorous mystery with quirky characters and a very specific setting in time and place. Ellison Russell exemplifies that rarefied country club existence, yet manages to be likeable, friendly and even down to earth. The mystery is well done with enough suspects to choose from to keep the reader guessing. Enjoyable lighter mystery read.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Set in the 1970’s single mom Ellison Russell heads to a haunted house to find her curfew missing daughter. She never expected to find a clown with a real knife, let alone have another clown die at her feet. We are quickly off on another adventure with Ellison and a dead body and her parents wringing their hands over how socially unacceptable that is.

I absolutely love Ellison and her love affair with her Mr. Coffee. I completely understand her need for caffeine to help her get through what is thrown at her each and every day and even more when there is a murder to solve.

I get the biggest kick out Ellison’s mom and this time even her dad trying to get a man in Ellison’s life to “manage” her. While she does have two men in her life, Hunter Tafft and Detective Anarchy Jones, both try not to push Ellison too far and not to ever bring up the subject of marriage. They are patient men which is just what she needs, but they still voice their opinions about her staying out of these investigations, she just chooses not to listen to those opinions.

When the author penned this mystery I don’t think she could have imagined the creepy clown phenomena and attack the country would be experiencing today and that while the set in the past the theme is very current. Then again I have always thought clowns were pretty creepy and adding them to a mystery or a haunted house makes perfect sense.

The author has given us a dynamic mystery heavily dosed with humor. The characters are very realistic, in fact, Ellison’s mother reminds me a bit of my own mother. No, we were not part of the country club set, but her views on marriage mirrors that of my mother very closely. Like Ellison, I learned to adapt and knew how to handle my mother. Some of these situations had me laughing out loud and churning up memories.

If you need a break from today’s reality escape to the past with this book. You will love all the references to the old television shows and a time before everyone had their noses buried in their cell phones. This book is fun, exciting and rapidly paced with a nice romantic triangle. Once you started reading it will be hard to put it down.

Ellison Russell shed her philandering husband. She seems to make a bad habit of finding bodies, so her friend, Detective Anarchy Jones, is not surprised when she calls him to say she has found another body at The Gates of Hell, a local Halloween haunted house. But when he arrives, the body is gone. However, this clown died in Ellison's arms and there was another clown in the room as well. She recognizes the dead clown as a local boy who ran away several years ago after being in and out of rehab for his heroin addiction. Now Ellison must call on all her savvy to question her country club friends as well as the clown's widow and sleazy brother. Charming setting in 1970s Kansas City, along with a protagonist who is struggling to learn her own place in the world, without a husband or depending on another man.

I just cannot tell how much I love this author and these characters. Witty, action-packed, twists, and fun!