Cricket McRaeRezensionen

A Book Bub cozy mystery. Quick, fun read. KIRKUS REVIEWIs a case of death by botulism a terrible accident or murder?While doing volunteer work answering the Heaven House Helpline, soapmaker Sophie Mae Reynolds is disturbed by a caller who seems to be stalking her rather than asking for professional help. Her concerns for herself pale, however, when Heaven House director Philip Heaven dies a nasty death in front of her eyes. Her boyfriend, policeman Barr Ambrose, ends up in the hospital with the same symptoms but survives. The authorities blame these developments on a bad jar of home-canned beets. But Sophie Mae, fresh from recently solving a murder, has a feeling this was no accident. It turns out that all the programs Philip Heaven was pledged to support went by the wayside so that he could spend the funds on himself. Sophie Mae is also worried about her housemate Meghan Bly, who?s dating another volunteer at Heaven House, a man who seems to have no past. As Barr rests up in Sophie Mae?s spare bedroom, the local force, stretched tight, has brought in a gorgeous, supercilious Seattle detective to help find the serial attacker plaguing the area. With no help forthcoming from the police, it is up to Sophie Mae to track down a killer and expose her stalker.Stubborn Sophie Mae?s sophomore case provides her with more intriguing opportunities for sleuthing than her debut (Lye in Wait, 2007) ever did.

Simple mystery about Sophie Mae and her persistence in finding out who murdered Philip. Quick read.

Decent cozy mystery set in eastern Washington state.

I had this on my TBR for way too long and read it as a part of a TBR challenge. I enjoyed it so much I was sorry it was pushed back so often. It is a cozy mystery yet it isn’t. I mean there is cursing, (not a lot), and some mature themes like alcoholism, mental illness and family related abuse. You don’t really see those play big parts in a cozy. It made it interesting and gave it a realistic feel.
I liked a lot of the characters, especially the main ones. I also like the strong relationships that are in the book, (not all are romantic so bonus). The mystery was good with several suspects and finger pointing. I had a good time reading it. I would recommend to those cozy readers who are looking to step it up a little.

The author showed some promise, but she was in desperate need of a good editor. The book got way too long-winded at time, too much detail about the crafting stuff. The recipes at the end were sufficient for anyone really interested in that stuff. But the budding "romance" had the spark of a damp dishrag, the climactic scene was a hot mess and the whole thing kind of fell apart for me. It was a kindle freebie, but all in all, I think I overpaid.

good as a plotting model!

Decent cozy mystery set in eastern Washington state.

Cocoa butter soap, lemon lip balm and more, Sophie Mae's beauty products business is growing. Then she suddenly finds the dead body of Walter Hanover, the neighborhood handyman, in her workroom. He died from drinking lye, something she has in good supply. The police call it a suicide. But why would a man with lottery cash and a loving fiancée kill himself? Sophie Mae wants to know why and she won't leave it alone. No one can stop the impulsive Sophie Mae, not her sensible best friend Meghan or Detective Ambrose, who incites annoyance as well as stomach flutters.
This is the first book of a mystery series that offers humor and romance as well as clues.

Decent enough cozy with some nice aromatherapy recipes. Marred by formatting and spelling errors.
3.5 stars

This book started out slowly, and not having read any of the previous books in the series, I found myself a little confused as to who each character was and what was going on. It slowly got better as Sophie Mae investigated the note her brother had tried to send to his girlfriend shortly before he committed suicide.

There was a lot of focus on food within this book (cheeses and otherwise) which didn't seem to have much impact on the plot overall--so the emphasis on the cheese-making classes and such did detract somewhat from the overall story and got to be a bit too much after a while. Also, for the amount of time focused on food, I would have expected some recipes or tips to be included in the book at the end (there weren't in the copy I read).

The theme that ran underneath many of the relationships in this book was protecting someone you love from the consequences of their actions. In most cases, the consequences wouldn't have been as severe as the protector imagined if they'd come forward and told the truth from the beginning.

Because of the copy on the back of the book, I thought of this book as the "stinky cheese book" rather than referring to it by its title.

Excellent read. I found myself starting and finishing it in one sitting; revisiting old "friends" and enjoying the evolution of family dynamics in this series.

It's refreshing to read an established series where the characters evolve together, instead of constantly banging their heads against the same brick walls in every book. Ms. McRae could have followed the very established pattern set forth in many other cozy series, where the protagonist and her romantic interest constantly bicker and argue about her involvement in solving the mystery - and I'll admit that there is a place for that; it is a good device to establish romantic tension. But I really appreciate that Ms. McRae chose not to beat that device to death, and instead, create a partnership between Sophie Mae and her husband, the police detective.

While I suspected the murderer right away, I can't say why, as I had no real reason to suspect the character of anything and I could have easily easily been wrong. It was a good, solid plot with a lot of interesting information unfolding as the book went on and I liked the ending - again, Ms. McRae could have followed a well worn path and chose not to in favor of something just a bit different, though not radically so.

As always, I love reading about all the ways Sophie Mae and her family are self-sufficient - always informative and never preachy, it makes me want to run out and start canning or baking something. :)

Can't wait for the next one.

I love this series and I was really excited when Wined and Died arrived. But I had a really hard time getting into it. I think it was the tension between Sophie Mae and Barr - it's a cliche in cozy mysteries having the protagonist go behind the detective's back. But still, that only last about mid-way through the story and then I found I could get right into it and enjoy it as I usually enjoy all the books in this series. The plot was well thought out and the ending was a good one, I thought. I'm hoping there will be another and looking forward to reading it.

A solid cozy with a nice cast of secondary characters. Although I love them when well-pulled off, I was a little concerned about the crafting aspect of this book. (The main character has a company that makes soaps and lotions; the title refers to the cheese-making classes she took.) It doesn't fall into the trap of others like it, though, and instead has this aspect running enough through the book to keep me entertained and interested, but not in an overwhelming way. I will definitely be seeking out the others in the series.½

This was meant as a cozy book but it crosses over the fine line dividing coziness and dull grayness. I simply can't recommend this book. It's far from being a mess, it's competently written, but not well written. I predicted every single twist that mattered, without even trying hard enough to do so. Someone who hasn't read much mystery shouldn't start with this book. Wherever it sits on a shelf anywhere in the world, Lye in wait will not be cherished. It's hard to imagine someone liking or valuing Lye in wait. Sorry, 1 star.

Entertaining with a good twist in the middle of the plot. Sometimes I felt like the descriptions of dinner or how to do the soap making were just in the storyline to fill out the narrative, not to actually contribute to the storyline.½

Soap maker Sophie Mae Reynolds is devastated when she finds the body of neighborhood handyman Walter Hanover on her workroom floor. The police think he committed suicide by drinking lye but Sophie Mae isn't convinced and begins looking into Walter's death herself much to the annoyance of Detective Barr Ambrose. The more Sophie Mae digs, the more complicated the case becomes. Sophie Mae doesn't seem to have a clue about Walter's death, but someone thinks she does and soon her life and the lives of those around her are in real danger.

"Lye in Wait" is the first book in Cricket McRae's Home Crafting Mystery series and it has some good moments. The characters are good, starting with Sophie Mae. She is a well-written character - widowed and making a decent living with her soap and other beauty products. I liked the fact that in this book, unlike some other mysteries, Sophie Mae is seen actually working instead of letting the mystery take over the book. Sophie Mae lives with her friend Meghan and Meghan's young daughter Erin and McRae does a good job of describing the relationship between the three which is very believable. The descriptions of the meals that Sophie Mae and Meghan cook made my mouth water. While the characters and soap making elements worked for me, the mystery aspects didn't work as well. Although the book has all the elements of a cozy mystery (including the ubiquitous attractive detective) it is a little too gritty to be called a cozy, especially in the way Walter dies and Meghan's relationship with her jerk of an ex-husband. The mystery seems to rely on too many coincidences and I felt cheated at the end when the murderer was revealed.

"Lye in Wait" is not a perfect mystery, but has some good moments and interesting characters and looks like the start of a good mystery series.

This is such a fun series and it keeps getting better. Different crafts in each book but her hints on them are mild and not an intrusion into the mystery, but often actually help solve the murders.

Sophie Mae, husband Barr and housemates Meghan and Erin are now working with a Community Supported Agriculture farm. When Meghan finds a woman buried in the compost pile Sophie is soon on the case to find out who she is and why someone wanted her dead.

Sophie & Barr, Meghan and Erin are fun characters and it seems like each book in this series makes them more fun. Now that Sophie and Barr are married and Erin is hitting the teenage years the complications of their homemade family are growing. Sophie & Barr are working on making the family bigger and Meghan is thinking strongly about marrying beau Kelly.

There is a lot of information on growing your own food, stockpiling it for off-season growing and the joys and trials of freezing and canning food. There were fewer things about soap making but that was also discussed.

I still really enjoy this series and am looking forward to more in the series.

As a first effort this is first rate. Called a Home Crafting Mystery you get a small taste of the world of soap making but it isn't the focus of the story, the mystery is that. The main characters are very easy to like and McRae bulds a relationship between the reader and the characters. Recommended for those who like a good cozy read.

I've enjoyed this series from the very beginning. Sophie Mae is a hardworking self-employed craft master. She makes soap and lip-balm and candles and, well, you get the picture.

In Wined and Died she get involved in a local family "meadery" or a winery that makes mead wine. It all comes about when new husband Barr purchases some mini-cassette tapes at a local thrift shop. 11 year old Eric listens to the tapes and starts asking questions that gets Sophie to asking questions about the death of a local psychotherapist.

There is a good mystery here, a family that has dysfunctional down pat, and a lot of good tips on making wine, mead and root beer.

I was completely pulled into the red herrings that McRae threw out and so really didn't even come close to guessing the murderer.

Looking forward to more in this series.

If you enjoy crafty cozies like Monica Ferris’ Needlecraft series or perhaps Susan Wittig Albert’s China Bayles series, but have an eclectic taste in crafting interests I think this series is worth reading. This craft-centric cozy mystery series took a little while to grow on me. I think it took a couple of books to really connect to the characters. Unlike many crafty cozies, this series highlights a wide variety of crafts instead of just one. There are always a handful of tips and recipes for DIY bath and beauty products in each of the books but deep down, she loves learning and exploring DIYing of all types.

Obviously, given the title of this 5th story of the series, she explores brewing her own beverages. In this installment, Sophie Mae is a newlyweb and her bath products business is growing.

Taped notes from the office of a recently deceased therapist surface and Sophie Mae discovers a client had spoken of a possible plan for murder, but details are vague and sketchy and the therapist herself sounds unsure how serious her client was. Sohpie Mae concludes that someone in the family who runs a local meadery may be at risk and begins thinking that the client may have murdered the therapist too! Her husband Barr, the lead detective in Cadyville, is spread too thin and doesn’t subscribe to Sohpie Mae’s theories so she heads out to do some sleuthing of her own to some surprising results.

In the end, the plot did not strike me as terribly complex, though I did not fully settle on the culprit until very near the reveal. I enjoyed the book and seeing Sophie Mae and Barr’s married relationship form and the growing pains of her business. The sprinkling of brewing information was interesting to me as we have done a bit of it ourselves and I think that actually helped carry the story a bit. Ultimately, I think my prior connection with the characters and the crafting elements carried this book for me more than the mystery element. I still look forward to see what Sophie Mae is going to dip her fingers into next!

And yet again another excellent addition to this series. I loved the very personal nature of this mystery, out of all the cozy mysteries I've read this one made the most sense for our heroine to be in the middle of.

I love how the author weaves continuing plot threads throughout her books without making them feel obvious or that they may become major plot points in the future. From the very first book it was established that Sophie Mae's brother committed suicide and how that had shaped a large part of her life. In this book we go back to her childhood home to revisit and solve this mystery.

As usual I found myself engaged in the characters and the story and it was great to meet her parents and have them be likeable characters as well. I did find myself highly annoyed with the subplot about he mother interfering with her wedding plans, especially with the way that storyline ended, it didn't feel consistent with the characters and pulled me out of the story whenever it cropped up but other than that the story was wonderfully paced and suspenseful in a way that cozy's usually aren't.
I can't wait to get my hand on the next one.

The second book was as much fun as the first, though this time the main characters involvement in the mystery felt a bit more forced and some of her choices, as well as the reactions of the people in her life grated on my nerves as unrealistic in the real world. That is often the biggest downside to cozy mysteries for me, it’s hard to justify the same person getting involved in so many mysteries in a small community that you just have to suspend disbelief and move on.
That said though I really enjoyed the character development and the mystery itself was interesting and was resolved nicely, both of which more than made up for any shortfalls elsewhere for me.

A very enjoyable installment in this series. Again the murder and plot made sense and Sophie Mae's involvement in the investigation once again did not feel like a glaring plot hole you have to ignore to be able to read the book. I also really enjoyed the secondary plots character interactions outside of the mystery and I'm finding myself very engaged in their lives.
I also found myself really enjoying her descriptions of the people, places and crafts more than before, I've enjoyed this aspect in her other books, but I feel the author is getting stronger with this aspect of writing with each book. She adds just enough detail to give you a feel of the location or the people but does not overwhelm you with to much description.

I really enjoyed this book, I often have a somewhat love/hate reaction to cozy mysteries since I find the plots totally unbelievable, but this one managed to avoid most of the usual pit falls as well as having some of the best writting I've come across in this type of book.
The characters were fun, engaging and believable and I found myself just as engaged in their personal stories as I was the mystery. The mystery itself made sense, was well paced and it was believable that the main character would end up involved in solving it.