Review
The First Cookie Shop Mystery
Beatrice Wright is known around Wingate, Connecticut as Queen Bea. So when she's found murdered there are plenty of suspects, including Cookie Shop owner Mallory Monroe, who just had a huge blowup with the victim. With townsfolk looking askance at her, Mallory also has to deal with bickering employees, a devious cousin, and the woman she caught her boyfriend with, not to mention a hunky detective, all while creating distinctive and delectable cookies. Desperate to prove her innocence, Mallory starts her own search for a killer. But will she solve a murder or become a victim?
How anyone can claim a cookie recipe is theirs and theirs alone is beyond me, but that's just what the supercilious Queen Bea believes. With a huge ego and little tolerance for others it's no wonder she becomes our murder victim. As Mallory investigates we learn even more reasons why people would like to kill her. I love mysteries with a good number of suspects all with excellent motives, and that's what we get in the first Cookie Shop Mystery.
I enjoyed my first visit to Wingate, Connecticut and the Cookie Shop. I like the slight tweak to the bakery in that the focus of the shop is highly decorated cookies and cookie bouquets. It's a nice departure from just regular baked goods, although Mallory offers those too...leading to the threats. I like that Mallory is somewhat suspicious of everyone and I think the addition of "the other woman" into her close circle is great fun. All of the characters have dimension and I look forward to learning more about them, especially a certain detective with a sparkle in his eye.
With great character dynamics, some surprising twists and turns, and lots of delicious cookies HOW THE MURDER CRUMBLES is a great start to a new series.
************************************************************************
How the Murder Crumbles (A Cookie Shop Mystery) by Debra Sennefelder
About How the Murder Crumbles
Cozy Mystery 1st in Series
Setting - Connecticut
Crooked Lane Books (June 20, 2023)
Hardcover: 304 pages
Debra Sennefelder whips up cookies and crime in a delicious new cozy series, perfect for fans of Joanne Fluke and Peg Cochran.
Wingate, Connecticut, is famed as one of the top ten shopping destinations in the state, and home to Mallory Monroe’s beloved Cookie Shop—a place where patrons are greeted with the heavenly aroma of freshly baked cookies that are as beautifully decorated as they are insanely delicious.
But things aren’t going so smoothly for Mallory. Her two employees are a disaster in the kitchen, she catches her boyfriend with another woman, and she’s seen having a fierce argument with food blogger Beatrice Wright, who accuses Mallory of stealing her cookie recipe. Then Beatrice turns up dead in her kitchen, flour outlining her body and a bloodied marble rolling pin nearby. Mallory immediately becomes suspect number one, her sales plummet, and she desperately tries to clear her name—but that’s not the only murder the killer is baking up.
Debra Sennefelder has cooked up a perfect recipe—endearing characters, a picture-perfect evocation of small-town life, and a quaint sweets shop. And just when things get a little too comfy, there’s always a murder or two for good measure.
About Debra Sennefelder
Debra Sennefelder, the author of the Food Blogger Mystery series, the Resale Boutique Mystery series, and the Cookie Shop mystery series, is an avid reader who reads across a range of genres, but mystery fiction is her obsession. Her interest in people and relationships is channeled into her novels against a backdrop of crime and mystery. When she’s not reading, she enjoys cooking and baking and as a former food blogger, she is constantly taking photographs of her food. Yeah, she’s that person.
Born and raised in New York City, she now lives and writes in Connecticut with her family. She’s worked in pre-hospital care, retail and publishing. Her writing companions are her adorable and slightly spoiled Shih-Tzus, Susie, and Billy.
Author LinksPurchase Links Amazon Barnes & Noble Other retailers
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Sounds like a book I will like.
ReplyDeletenice review
ReplyDelete