Review: Diners, Dives and Dead Ends by Terri L. Austin

Title: Diners, Dives and Dead Ends

Author: Terri L. Austin

Genre: Cozy mystery

Pages: 318

Published: 2012

Rose Strickland, former rich girl turned waitress/part time college student, doesn’t quite know what she wants to do with her life yet. Despite her disapproving and disappointed snobby parents, she’s pretty content while she figures things out. Life is okay at the diner, working with her best friend Roxy, though less than exciting… until her other best friend, Axton, disappears after leaving her with his backpack and a mysterious hard drive inside. Soon, her life is turned upside down as she is tracked down by a very powerful (and very attractive) man who had something to do with Axton’s disappearance, and knows way too much about her life. Now, Rose is chasing down leads, using her stun gun, and living life dangerously while on the hunt to find her best friend and bring him home.

I seriously loved this book! I thought it was just fantastic and the writing was great. I especially liked the cast of characters. Rose was down to earth, hardworking, independent, and just plain fierce. She refuses to back down to the menacing man behind Axton’s disappearance, and she refuses to back down to her parents, who disapprove of her being a waitress, and kicked her out of the house after she decided to transfer to a college not of their choosing. The rest of the characters were awesome as well, with her goofy, anime-loving, strangely-dressing friend Roxy, the old but feisty Ma, her boss at the diner, and some IT guys helping her to solve the mystery. I thought the mystery aspect was interesting and suspenseful, but I also enjoyed the non-mystery side stories too, like Rose’s strained relationship with her family. This book was really funny and witty too. The only complaint I have is this one small story line that happened at the end of the book, in the last 20 pages or so. Rose finds herself in a very strange situation that I didn’t really feel tied in with the rest of the story. This is really minor complaint though, believe me. All in all, this was an awesome read with really strong characters. I’m dying to read the next book so I can read about Rose and all of her friends again!

My Rating: 4.5/5
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Reviewed by Stephanie

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