Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; [Audio CD]: Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496711212; [9781541468061]
Kensington Publishing; [Tantor Audio]
280 Pages
$7.19; [$25.26]; $6.83 Amazon
January 30, 2018
⭐⭐⭐⭐
As Robbie arranges a breakfast-themed cook-off at Pans 'N Pancakes, visitors pour into Brown County for the annual maple extravaganza. Unfortunately, that includes Professor Connolly, a know-it-all academic from Boston who makes enemies everywhere he goes -- and this time, bad manners prove deadly. Soon after clashing with several scientists at a maple tree panel, the professor is found dead outside a sugar shack, stabbed to death by a local restaurateur's knife. When an innocent woman gets dragged into the investigation and a biologist mysteriously disappears, Robbie drops her winning maple biscuits to search for answers. But can she help police crack the case before another victim is caught in a sticky situation with a killer?
✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽
Robbie Jordan owns Pans 'N Pancakes restaurant, and is hosting one of the Brown County Maple Festival's events there. When she meets one of the judges - Professor Warren Connolly - she's not impressed. The man is arrogant and obnoxious. He's already had a disagreement with one of Robbie's regular customers, and also the father of her employee Turner, Dr. Rao. But when he's found dead by her Aunt Adele - murdered - there are suspects that hit a little too close to home. He was found on Dr. Rao's land, and killed with a knife belonging to her chef friend Christina. There's a detective who's investigating that isn't forthcoming with information, and Robbie is determined to do a little probing on her own to prove the two innocent and find out who hated Connolly enough to kill him. But since he was a man with secrets that are slowly coming to the forefront, and so are her friends, she's going to have to be careful or she might find herself not only piecing a puzzle, but being the next one to get sliced permanently...
This is the fourth book in the series and I think I've liked it the most. While it wasn't all that involved as far as having tons of action, it was still an interesting book to read. Robbie still isn't sure of her relationship with Abe, having been burned a couple of times in the past, and she's also afraid she might ruin her relationship with her newest employee, Turner. But she forges ahead, because she doesn't want Christina to be suspected, and she wants to help Turner's family. Her heart is in the right place, but sometimes her actions make things go awry.
Robbie, for her part, I do think acts a little too hastily, and since she does get involved, I would like to see her either tell someone where she's going every time she decides to do something rash, or take someone with her. It would show a little more responsibility on her part. Saying that, I do like the characters of Buck, Abe, and Adele quite a bit. They seem to be a little more level-headed than Robbie and keep her grounded somewhat. It would also be nice for her to either spend more time with her cat, Birdy, (they do get lonely) or at least get a second one so they'd have a playmate. The poor thing is alone almost all the time.
Anyway, the murder itself was done nicely, and even though I knew the identity of the killer early on, it didn't stop my enjoyment of the book, since I like to see how the protagonist puts everything together. When the ending comes there was a dicey climax that kept me reading, and I am glad to say that all in all it was satisfying when the book ended. Recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Biscuits-Slashed-Browns-Country-Mystery/dp/1496711211/ref
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2205038347
More on Maddie Day's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/maddie-day/
No comments:
Post a Comment