Nancy CoCoRezensionen
Autor von All Fudged Up
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Three Fudges and a Baby (A Candy-coated Mystery) von Nancy Coco
Allie’s BFF, Jenn, is two weeks overdue for the birth of her first child. Jenn has decided to have her child on Mackinac Island and has engaged a doula, Hannah, and a midwife to be there for the delivery. Jenn has an appointment with her doula, and Allie decides to walk Mel and walk part of the way with Jenn. They soon find Jenn’s doula sitting on the stairs to her apartment holding a gun and her fiance lying dead close by. Allie carefully removes the weapon from Hannah’s hands and places it safely out of reach. When the police interviewed nearby residents, no one had heard a gunshot, but one person had heard them having a loud argument that morning. When Hannah is arrested and jailed, Jenn pleads with Aliie to investigate and get Hannah out of jail.
Allie has to manage her hotel, make fudge for her fudge shop, and try to solve the recent murder case. She also has to deal with her mother showing up for a visit with Allie’s former boyfriend. Her mother thinks that Allie should marry her ex-boyfriend. Her mother explains that he has plans for a career in politics and would be a much better choice than the chief of police of Mackinac Island. Allie continuously tells her mother there is no way she will start seeing her ex again, but her mother does not seem to know what NO means.
I love this series and am always looking forward to reading the next book. The story is well-written and plotted so you feel you are right there with Allie and the island residents. The characters are well-developed, engaging, and believable.
The book also includes delicious-sounding recipes for the fudges that Allie produces at her shop.
I’m looking forward to the next book in this delightful series.
Carol Tunisian is on her way to meet other ladies to finish planning the upcoming Christmas Ball to raise funds for the Senior Center. Arriving at the center, she finds the front door ajar and a body lying on the floor. Carol immediately calls the police, and when police chief Rex Manning arrives, the body is quickly identified as Martin Oxford. Two questions need to be asked: who murdered Oxford and what was he doing back in town, as he always winters in Texas? It’s time for Carol to organize the members of the senior book club and begin to search for the killer.
The story is well-plotted and moves at a quick pace. It was delightful to have a story told from the supporting characters' view. The ladies are very determined and quite humorous.
There are delicious-sounding recipes included in the book.
Allie has two pets: Mal and Mella.
Allie puts a leash on her little dog, then proceeds to put the leash in her dog’s mouth so it can take itself for walkies; she is then horrified & stunned when it runs off without her.
Allie is being courted by a single, incredibly handsome, charming and wealthy dreamboat. Instead of pursuing a relationship with the aforementioned Adonis-like eligible dreamboat, Allie chooses to hook up with the loser lawman who has been twice divorced and treats Allie as his personal property after one date.
Allie is repeatedly told to stay out of a murder investigation because it is too dangerous; she is then shocked when she finds herself in danger.
Allie goes to the murderer to ask for help with identifying the murderer; she is then stunned when the murderer reveals, “Yo, cupcake, I am the murderer.”
When it becomes clear the murderer plans to murder her, instead of escaping when she has the chance, Allie chooses to pretend to be drugged so the killer can imprison her in the basement. She is then shocked when she can’t figure out how to escape from the basement.
Allie proceeds to break several fingers while unsuccessfully trying to text the phrase, “We’re trapped in a coal SHOOT” to the police.
With the murderer still on the loose & her hand in a splint, Allie insists on going out alone for a walk. She is then stunned when the murderer shows up, breaks her arm, and attempts to kill her…again.
Nancy Coco is clearly committed to making Allie look like the biggest imbecile on planet Earth.
The biggest mystery is how in the world such a lousy character and series could keep chugging along through so many installments.
The Mackinac County Fair is taking place on the Island this year. Allie and her BFF, Jenn, decided to take in the fair, and when they come to the haunted house, Jenn talks Allie into checking it out. As they enter, the first thing they come to is a man in a jail cell pleading for them to let him out. A few steps further, they almost trip over the leg of a man whose body is lying part out of a door to the outdoors. Upon closer inspection, they find that the man is dead but not part of the haunted house. The next day Rex, the police chief, and Allie’s boyfriend ask if any of the workers from the fair are staying at her hotel, as one of the workers has been reported as missing. Later, Allie will head to the fair to see how her Easy Dark Chocolate Mint Fudge did in judging of candies. Allie is related when she finds that she has won Best In Show. She is hurt when Christine Keller, who had won the previous twenty contests, accuses Allie of bribing the judges.
Rex finally got Allie to limit her investigations to close friends and what might happen around her hotel. When the body from a local group of parkour, those who jump from rooftop to rooftop or other tall structures, is found in the alley behind Allie’s hotel, Allie will start investigating whether she slipped or was pushed from the roof of the hotel. The book club members at the senior citizens' home will help Allie, and hopefully, Allie will remember to bring some of her fudge to the meetings. Allie will have her investigations hampered by a popular podcast following her wherever she goes. It’s not a well-known fact on the island, but there are tunnels that were used when smuggling was prevalent. Allie will find herself being held captive in them. B&B owner Harry is also wooing Allie; what will she do, and what will Rex’s reaction be?
The book is well-written and plotted, with interesting, believable, and well-developed characters. The book reads at a swift pace and was hard to put down. There were plenty of twists and turns that I was kept guessing until the end of the book as to who the murderer was.
It’s always a wonderful visit to Mackinac Island.
Recipes are also included in the book.
I am anxiously awaiting the next book in the series.
A light-hearted cozy mystery set in a provincial town with country fairs, baking competitions, sleuthing book clubs, and smugglers tunnels. This novel is part of a long-running series but can be read as a stand-alone (I've only read this one so far, but I look forward to going back and reading the previous works). The MC's pets are as important as the human characters, and there are some yummy recipes scattered throughout. A scene or two may be a bit over-the-top, but overall, it's a pleasant read. For cozy mystery readers and especially a good choice for the Spring or Summer seasons.
Net Galley Feedback
PARKOUR!
Oh yeah, that was the SECOND murder.
The characters nice (except for the whiney one) but realistic, the twists are really different, the location is almost a character by itself, and the red herrings really add a lot.
I originally came for the location and the recipes, but now I'm hooked on the cozies and recipes.
The book is punctuated with delicious chocolate fudge recipes every few chapters. Good read!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
Wren Johnson owns Let It Bee, a shop that carries fruit-flavored honey and bee-related products, such as lip balms and hand creams. Let It Bee’s second anniversary is a few days away. She plans to have a big sale; there’s a UFO festival in a nearby community, so she needs plenty of inventory. Wren needs to visit her mentor Elias. Elias also designed the beehive on her store wall with a glass window so everyone could watch the activity in the hive. Wren arrives at Elias’s home to pick up more of his honey, and she gets no response when she knocks on the door. Wren heads for the back yard figuring he is caring for his hives. Instead, she finds Elias’ prostate body and thousands of bees swarming around it. Wren notices that the majority of Elias’ hives have been damaged. Wren first calls a bee wrangler, Klaus, and asks if he can come and try to contain the swarming bees, knowing that recovering his body can’t be done until the bees calm down. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, Elias passes away, having been severely beaten about the head.
Wren feels the need to investigate Elias’ murder and begins asking questions. She soon learns that several beekeepers in the area have experienced having had their hive sabotaged. Shortly after, Wren questions a neighbor of Elias if he had seen anything the day Elias was killed, and the next day the neighbor is assaulted, requiring hospitalization. As Wren visits Paul, another beekeeper she gets beeswax from, shots ring out, and a bullet hits Paul, and another grazes Wren. Wren now knows that she is getting close to learning the killer's identity and hopes that she will learn the identity before anyone else is injured or killed.
Wren is also surprised when her ex-boyfriend arrives in town and seems to want to rekindle their relationship. He looks mysterious about why he wants to pick up where their relationship ended suddenly.
This book is a wonderful addition to this fascinating new series. The book is well-written, plotted, and flows at a good pace. I found the characters to be well-developed and very believable. The book had enough red herrings and twists and turns that I was kept guessing until the end as to who the killer was. The book also contains delicious-sounding recipes, interesting facts, and beneficial uses of honey.
I am looking forward to reading the next book in this exciting series.
Allie McMurphy owns and operates the hotel and fudge shop on Historic Mackinac Island where her more than a friend is the chief local law. It starts out with the end of the local pageant and the discovery of the first body. Let the sleuthing begin! The clues are confusing, the characters nice but realistic, the twists surprising, and the sleuthing well done. The book is punctuated with delicious chocolate dessert recipes every few chapters. Good read!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
When she arrives at Elias's home, no one appears to be there. But she finds him in the backyard, wearing his bee suit, with bees from his hives everywhere. The only way for anyone to get to him is to call another wrangler, and Wren does this, along with calling 911. When Elias is finally removed, it turns out he's been murdered, and the suspect is the wrangler Wren called. Knowing he's innocent, Wren and her employee Porche Allen are out to find a killer -- under the radar of Officer Jim Hampton, who wants her to stay out of it.
Confusing things is finding her old boyfriend Travis is in town, and he wants to buy a Havana Brown of his own, along with taking Wren out to dinner. Will she succumb to Travis's charms again? Will she be able to find a killer? And last but not least, will she be able to figure it all out before a killer finds her?
This is the second book in the series, and I do think I enjoyed it more than the first. The characters are getting some fleshing out, and we see that Wren can hold her own. She does share what information she finds with the police -- although some it might be later than they want -- and she's not running scared, nor breaking into houses or doing other illegal things (things that irritate me in cozies). Wren is a decent person, generous to her employees and her aunt, and smart enough to figure out when she needs to take care of her own. She also has a great love for her cat, which I can empathize with, owning my own and loving it just as much, if not more. I would never put my cats in danger (and they're only indoor cats, so there's that!)
When Wren starts trying to look at who wanted to kill Elias -- by all accounts a nice man who had no enemies and helped others -- she doesn't believe he was killed by another wrangler. She can't believe anyone in the bee community would do such a thing, but who else is a suspect? When it appears that the killer is watching her every move, she wonders if she's putting others in danger. That's when she realizes that drastic measures must be taken, and Wren tries to formulate a plan to catch a murderer.
It's watching her put the clues together, and figure things out that is so interesting. I never saw the killer coming, and the reasons for the murder seemed so insane; but you never can look into the mind nor eyes of a killer and tell what they are thinking. It was all put together nicely, and the motive was indeed unique; and I truly enjoyed reading this book and look forward to the next in the series.
I was given an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
Happily, that's the worst thing about this book. Everything beyond the title is well done: it's well written, it has strong, likeable characters and the murder plot was un-predictable. The MC Allie doesn't run around questioning people like a rude, obnoxious, nosy git. This is so damn refreshing it makes me want to hug the author.
This series has surprised me: it's setting of the "fudge capital" on Mackinac Island had me dreading a tacky-tourist vibe and the first book's cover and this book's title made my blood sugar spike. But there's nothing tacky-tourist or overly cute/sweet about the story; Allie is well-educated, running a hotel that aims for tasteful. There is a definite love triangle developing - Allie's single and has two eligible men declaring their interest. I found it irritating, since it started feeling like a competition between the two men and it just wasn't interesting.
A solid 4-star read though and I'd recommend to anyone who likes cozies, but doesn't like "Cute" to overlook the title and art and give the books a try.
A Matter of Hive and Death is the second book in the Oregon Honeycomb mystery series. I hadn't read the first book but I found this easy-breezy to get into, and a delight all the way through! This is really the epitome of a cozy mystery. Wren runs a honey-themed shop in downtown Oceanview along the Oregon coast. When she finds a mentor dead, his hives vandalized, suspicion falls on another member of the local bee community. Wren is certain of his innocence and starts investigating on her own despite the disapproval of the handsome local cop who was certain of her guilt during a previous incident. Meanwhile, an old flame has wandered into town and takes an interest in the beloved Havana brown cats of her family--and in Wren. She might develop a new romance--if she can stay alive.
This book was sheer fun. I don't know a lot about beekeeping, but it really felt like the author did her research and the information throughout the book was fascinating. Plus, every chapter began and ended with info on using honey and included recipes--I'm all about that! The mystery packs in danger and plentiful twists and turns, and the ending contained some nice surprises. The whole thing also left me yearning for the Oregon coast. This is a setting and series I would gladly read more of--you could say that I'm sweet on it!
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