Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781250827593
Minotaur Books
304 Pages
Various Prices; $11.99 Amazon
January 3, 2012
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As owner of April Springs one and only donut shop, Suzanne Hart is privy to the deliciously personal, downright eccentric tastes of her customers. One man is crazy for crullers -- heavy on the icing. But when he doesn't pick up his order, a tall dark stranger buys the whole box. Which he tosses, one drippy cruller at a time, at her friend Gabby's storefront next door...
The man claims that stolen family valuables ended up in Gabby's thrift shop. His wild, weird behavior has Suzanne wanting to call the cops. But when he turns up dead -- outside of Donut Hearts, no less -- the cops come calling for her and Gabby. Can Suzanne prove that their role in the cruller-vandal killing is a cruel, albeit sugar-coated, twist of fate?
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When Suzanne Hart, owner of Donut Hearts, sells a dozen crullers to a man she doesn't know, she also doesn't expect him to use them as ammunition. As he's throwing them at the store front window of her neighbor Gabby's store ReNEWed, she steps in to stop him. He starts accusing Gabby of stealing $10,000 and a vintage brooch from his aunt Jean when Jean donated a coat and it was supposedly in the pocket.
After the man leaves, Gabby insists she had nothing to do with the missing money. But when the man is later killed, and Gabby is the main suspect, she begs Suzanne to help clear her name. So Suzanne enlists the help of her best friend Grace, and her retired cop friend George to try and find the killer. But with plenty of suspects, Suzanne may have gotten herself in deeper than she wants, especially with a killer closer than she thinks...
This is the sixth book in the series and I have read every one of them. I have to say that this book is a breath of fresh air. Honestly, it is so nice to read a book that doesn't have an author's personal political views thrown in every which way they can lately. No offense to the authors, but I read a book for entertainment and to escape daily life, not to have you tell me what I should think and do. Perhaps that is why I feel the need to read older books so much. There's no nonsense in them, just pure fun.
And while this book isn't high literature -- it's not meant to be, after all -- it is fun to read. This time out Suzanne is partly on her own with her friends having to unfortunately leave her in the lurch even if they don't want to. It makes for an interesting time watching her handle things mostly by herself, and still manage to keep her business moving along.
We see a different side of the hard-hearted Gabby, as she softens toward Suzanne, and there are a couple of surprising twists as well to keep the story moving along. Because of this, it makes the reader want to finish the book in one sitting, which I did, anyway. When the ending comes and the identity of the killer is revealed, it also brings everything together nicely, and even gives us something to look forward to in the next book. Recommended.
More on Jessica Beck's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/jessica-beck/
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