Friday, March 4, 2022

Body and Soul - A Review

 Review

BODY AND SOUL FOOD by Abby Collette
The First Books and Biscuit Mystery

Separated when they were toddlers, twins Keaton Rutledge and Koby Hill are together again. The siblings are preparing to open Books and Biscuits, a combination bookstore and soul-food cafe, with full support of their friend, Reef, who is always happy to help out with a taste test. But when Keaton tries to meet up with Reef on the train ride home, she finds him dead. While Koby insists they can deduce who killed their friend, Keaton isn't so sure. As they begin to see connections amongst the other rail passengers they also realize that Reef has some secrets. Will the pair be able to puzzle out who wanted Reef dead as they open their new business venture?

Loving books as I do, it's no wonder I was pleased to see another mystery set in a book shop. However, what really made me happy was the unique combination of bookstore and soul-food cafe. Sure book shops have cafes, but this is the first one I've heard of serving soul food. I enjoyed the departure from cupcakes and other baked goods and welcome collard greens, ribs, and mac and cheese.

Although both Keaton and Koby are both likeable enough, I didn't form a connection with either of them. Neither were able to fully draw me in. I do love Mama Zola, however. She was the one character fully fleshed out who jumped off of the page. The mystery was interesting, but with so many suspects and no clear motive, it wasn't compelling. Several loose threads offer the possibility of interesting things to come, but did nothing to drive the current plot.

BODY AND SOUL FOOD is a great concept with lots of possibilities and potential. 

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 Body and Soul Food (A Books & Biscuits Mystery) by Abby Collette

About Body and Soul Food

Body and Soul Food (A Books & Biscuits Mystery)
Cozy Mystery 1st in Series
Setting - Timber Lake, Washington (Near Seattle)
Berkley (November 9, 2021)
Mass Market Paperback: ‎ 336 pages

In this page-turning new mystery series, fraternal twins Keaton and Koby will pull double duty when they take down a killer while preparing to open their new bookstore and soul-food café, Books & Biscuits.

When Koby Hill and Keaton Rutledge were orphaned at age two, they were separated, but their unbreakable connection lingered. Years later, they reunite and decide to make up for lost time and capitalize on their shared interests by opening up a well-stocked bookstore and cozy soul-food café in the quaint Pacific Northwest town of Timber Lake. But this new chapter of their lives could end on a cliffhanger after Koby's foster brother is found murdered.

The murder, which occurred in public between light-rail stops, seems impossible for the police to solve. But as Keaton and Koby know, two heads are always better than one, especially when it comes to mysteries. With just a week to go before the grand opening of their new café, the twins will use their revitalized connection with each other to make sure this is the killer's final page.

About Abby Collette

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Abby Collette loves a good mystery. She was born and raised in Cleveland, and it's a mystery even to her why she hasn't yet moved to a warmer place. As Abby Collette, she is the author of the Ice Cream Parlor mystery series, about a millennial MBA-holding granddaughter running a family-owned ice cream shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and the Books & Biscuits mystery series, starring a set of fraternal twins who reunite and open a bookstore and soul food café. Writing as Abby L. Vandiver, she is the author of the Logan Dickerson Mysteries, featuring a second-generation archaeologist and a nonagenarian, as well as the Romaine Wilder Mysteries, pairing an East Texas medical examiner and her feisty, funeral-home-owning auntie as sleuths. Abby spends her time writing, facilitating writing workshops at local libraries and hanging out with her grandchildren, each of whom are her favorite.

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