Author: Ginger Bolton
Genre: Mystery
Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496740199
Kensington Cozies
256 Pages
$16.95; $9.99 Amazon
April 23, 2023
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An ordinary late-spring afternoon for Emily becomes one that will remain baked into her memory from the moment a customer gives Emily's cat a toy donut and then flees Deputy Donut, dropping an earring in her panic. Concerned about the customer, Emily attempts to return the earring...only this time the customer doesn't have a pulse. Things get more complicated when an ambitious police detective finds the earring and an unsealed envelope addressed to Emily at the murder scene. The envelope contains a cryptic letter and a fading photograph of a woman standing in front of Emily's house.
Why did the customer grab her cinnamon twists and flee Deputy Donut? With the detective eying Emily as a prime suspect, Emily is determined to find out. But once a donut-shaped murder weapon is discovered in her own backyard, Emily has no time to lose as she pulls apart the connection between the victim and the strange history of her property -- while stopping the real culprit from ensuring that her fate is done and sugar-dusted...
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Emily Westhill co-owns Deputy Donut along with her late husband's father, Tom Westhill. They make donut creations, and all the cops, EMTs, and firemen flock to their shop, along with regular local customers. When a woman comes in two days in a row, Emily can't help notice that she appears nervous, but is hesitant to approach her. On the second day, the woman gives Emily's cat Dep a donut-shaped catnip toy and asks to leave through the back door. Emily notices she's lost an earring and grabs it to return later.
But wanting to do so and being able to are different things. When Emily arrives at the rented lake cottage, the woman is dead. Calling her boyfriend Detective Brent Fyne, she waits until he arrives to look over the scene. But right behind him is the new chief of police, Detective Agnew, and he's not happy by Emily's presence.
When it's discovered that the woman was murdered, Emily is at the top of Agnew's list of suspects, so she is determined to get herself off the hook. But stumbling blocks are many -- including strange goings-on in her yard, locals that might have known the woman, and the detective sending Brent out of town so she can't share information with him. It's up to Emily herself to try and figure everything out, and if she doesn't she just might be making her tasty treats in prison...
This is the seventh book in the series and I have read them all. I have also loved them all. Ms. Bolton writes characters so well that you can almost feel as if you are right there in their small little Wisconsin town. I definitely would love to try some of the donut creations, but since I don't eat a lot of sugar, I'd probably pass out. Still, it would be worth it!
In this story we have several subplots along with the main plot, and they are woven into the story seamlessly. Each and every clue is written piece by piece, and actually delivered by someone I would like to know. They paint the picture that the dead woman may not have been a nice person after all, and more than one might have wanted revenge. But enough to kill her? That's what Emily needs to find out, hoping to stay under the radar.
As to the subplots, all of them are interesting enough to keep you reading, and most are worthy in their own right. But it's Emily who takes center stage in this mystery, and wondering who wants to find something in her yard so badly and what it could possibly be.
I hesitate to say more as I don't want to spoil the book for others, but suffice it to say that the threads are woven nicely, the characters interesting, and the reason for the murder truly sad and leaving you thinking that no one can see into the mind of a murderer. But the ending was truly surprising, and it leaves me wanting to read the next in the series right now. Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Ginger Bolton's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/ginger-bolton/
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