Macarons Can Be Murder by Rose Betancourt is the debut of A Paris Kentucky Bakery Mysteries. The story is told from Marci Beaucoup’s point-of-view. We are privy to her every thought and feeling (lucky us). Marci, of course, loves everything French. Marci opens La Belle Patisserie in her southern hometown of Paris, Kentucky. I was not a fan of Marci. She quickly got on my nerves. It is hard to believe that someone her age could be that naïve, especially in this day and age. Marci does not make the best choices (the words too stupid to live come to mind). Marci’s Aunt Barb has an overbearing personality. She is a human steam roller, and it is best to get out of her way. The mystery was straightforward. There is a limited number of suspects. There is an attempt at misdirection. The killer can be identified early in the story. Marci works to solve the crime so the building that houses her patisserie does not get sold to a developer and bulldozed. It would have helped if Marci had a cohort in crime so to speak. We would have had to endure less of her thoughts (and the endless repetition). Marci jumps to rash conclusions often (talk about annoying). Marci also believes she is smarter than the local police. Marci was very focused on Antoine not being the killer. The mystery needed work. There are French words scattered throughout the story (alas, I do not speak French). Macarons Can Be Murder has the beginning of one of my biggest pet peeves: a love triangle. I do not feel that romance was needed (let us get to know the main character before you get her involved with someone). There are a number of inconsistencies in the story and some details that seemed not to be researched. The pastry descriptions had me craving a flaky croissant (I love it when they are still warm). Macarons Can Be Murder was more fluff than substance. There is an overload of dialogue, the secondary characters lacked development (they were flatter than crepes), the storyline lacked development as well, lack of suspense, the mystery needed more thought (it was not thought out), and lack of chemistry between Marci and her two love interests. As you can tell, Macarons Can Be Murder did not suit me. ( )

Thank you to the publisher Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for the eARC.

For me, this book was just okay. The premise was not particularly creative, and it also got a little boring at times. I had to skim through the book to get to the end. It was not particularly engrossing for me, like other cozy mysteries. ( )

I wanted to enjoy this book, but I just found it lacking. The story-line wasn't engaging or thought provoking in my opinion. The main character continually put herself in harm's way ignoring everyone else's advice. There is also a love triangle-eque romance that is building (assumedly for up coming books) but it was just wasn't interesting.

Note: I listened to this and personally struggled with the reader a bit and the pronunciation of various words. ( )

first-in-series, new-series, culinary, cozy-mystery, relatives, relationships, amateur-sleuth, bakery, baker, small-business, small-town, punny, pets, sly-humor, romantic, recipes,****

Nice lighthearted cozy mystery with a whiff of magic (denied by the shop owner). Things are almost pleasant until a customer's dead body is found on the sidewalk in front of her bakery in Paris, Kentucky. While sorting out just which man she is attracted to (despite what her aunt says) Marci starts snooping and sleuthing.
The series needs some work but looks to be a fun excursion once it develops a little more.
I requested and received a free e-book copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )