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Buried Leads (2013) by Amanda M. Lee is the third book in the Avery Shaw Mystery series, a cozy‑mystery centred on small‑town newsroom antics and crime investigation. Lee uses witty narration and newsroom‑based settings to explore how reporter Avery Shaw navigates a missing‑persons case that spirals into something much darker. The novel matters because it consolidates Avery’s character development and the series’ blend of humor and mystery.
Setting & Author Context
Amanda M. Lee sets Buried Leads in Michigan (the same region as the earlier Avery Shaw books) where a local weekly newspaper serves as the backdrop for the story. The setting → gives the novel its tone of everyday‑journalism meets danger. Lee’s author style → reflects her own past in reporting and uses that experience to inform the protagonist’s world. The setting of the newsroom and the small‑town suburbs → influences the emotional tone by juxtaposing ordinary work life with extraordinary events.
Plot Summary (No Spoilers)
In Buried Leads, reporter Avery Shaw has spent the past month on her boss’s “list” for things gone wrong at work. When a missing‑persons case involving a wealthy suburban mother surfaces, Avery figures the best way to get back in her boss’s good graces is to break the story of the year. But the case → complicates when online stalking of Avery begins, and Avery’s new‑dating‑life (with pawnshop owner Eliot) overlaps with her ex‑boyfriend’s presence. Meanwhile the missing‑persons case → reveals itself as more than meets the eye. As Avery investigates, she → faces conflicts both professional (newsroom politics) and personal (stalkers, exes, romantic entanglements). The investigation drives the narrative while Avery’s character arc deepens.
Characters & Themes
Main characters:
- Avery Shaw (reporter protagonist) → represents tenacity, humor and the struggle to juggle personal life with professional ambition.
- Eliot (pawnshop owner/new romantic interest) → represents the possibility of normalcy in Avery’s chaotic world.
- Avery’s ex‑boyfriend (unnamed in blurbs) → represents past relationships and complications that intrude into Avery’s present.
- The missing mother / wealthy suburban figure → acts as catalyst for the investigation and represents hidden suburban dysfunction.
Major themes:
- Work vs personal life: Avery → tries to balance her ambition and her personal relationships.
- Identity and perception: The missing person case and online stalking → challenge Avery’s sense of safety and self.
- Truth and the media: The newsroom environment → explores how journalists pursue truth under pressure and risk.
- Chaos in the familiar: The familiar setting of a suburban mother’s disappearance → becomes unsettling and dangerous, showing how the ordinary hides disorder.
Amanda M. Lee → emphasises humor and character voice over gruesome detail; the novel’s tone remains cozy‑mystery rather than full thriller.
Tropes & Reader Experience
Buried Leads employs classic cozy‑mystery tropes: an amateur sleuth working in a professional domain (Avery is a journalist), the setting of a small town or suburban community, quirky supporting characters, and an investigation that puts the protagonist at risk but not in gratuitous violence. Those tropes → define reader expectations: witty banter, relatable protagonist, moderate tension, and a satisfying resolution. Lee → delivers a reading experience that appeals to fans of light‑hearted mysteries with enough suspense to keep pages turning. On Goodreads the book holds a rating of about 4.4 stars among ~1,700 reviews.
Series Placement / Reading Order
Buried Leads is Book #3 in the Avery Shaw Mystery series.
The sequence around it:
- Who, What, Where, When, Die (#1)
- If It Bleeds, It Leads (#2)
- Buried Leads (#3)
Readers new to the series can start here but may benefit from reading the first two books to understand recurring characters and Avery’s back‑story. The series → created by Amanda M. Lee evolves Avery’s newsroom world and her investigative arcs.
Reader Suitability / Why Read It
Buried Leads is suited for readers who enjoy cozy mysteries set in professional or workplace environments, who don’t mind some romantic subplot, and who appreciate humour in narrative voice. The novel → appeals to fans of reporter‑sleuth protagonists, newsroom drama, and small‑town crime stories. The story → inspires enjoyment, curiosity and light suspense — perfect for readers looking for an engaging mystery without heavy gore or overt darkness.
Continue the Avery Shaw Mystery Series
Read other books in the Avery Shaw Mystery Series.