Genre: Mystery
Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496740212
Kensington Cozies
256 Pages
$16.95; $9.99 Amazon
February 20, 2024
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
When the Fallingbrook Arts Festival rolls into town weeks before she's set to tie the knot, Emily expects talent and friendly competition at the week-long summer series to go together like coffee and double fudge. But the fun crumbles fast after a lively bagpiper takes first place on day one and turns heads for the wrong reasons -- all before Emily and her tabby cat find him dead in a clear case of murder. Along with a distinctive weapon at the crime scene, several strategically placed items leave distrubing clues about the killer's identity, including a broken piece of a Deputy Donut mug...
While detectives aren't sure who silenced the bagpiper's music, they don't trust Emily or her family to tell the truth. With her nuptials and career on the line, Emily launches an unsettling investigation to save herself from trouble and bring a dangerous figure to justice. The search not only brings too many suspects into the picture, but also leads to a strange discovery on Deputy Donut's rooftop. A discovery that tells Emily she better get cooking, because someone may be watcring her every move...and carefully plotting to turn a wedding into a funeral!
✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽
Emily Westhill is half owner of Deputy Donut, along with her ex-father-in-law Tom. She's thriving and happy and about to marry her fiancé, Brent Fyne. The Fallingbrook Arts Festival is in town, and she's getting more business with the competitors moving from business to business with their acts. Life is good...or at least it was...
When she watches a bagpiper play, it's obvious he's very good and of course, wins one of the contests. But he's also annoying, playing the pipes up and down the street, during other's acts. After speaking with people, Emily finds out that he's not well-liked, either. The next morning tragedy strikes when Emily finds the piper dead, and calls the police. There's a list of suspects, and she's stunned to discover that both she and her parents are on the list. With less than two weeks until her wedding, Emily knows she needs to figure this out now or wedding bells won't be ringing for her...
This is the eighth book in the series and I have read them all. It's a delightful series, and the characters progress as it goes along; it's nice to see that things don't stay stagnant in the books. Emily is a great character; she's strong, intelligent, and smart; Brent admires these things and doesn't berate her when she finds clues for him. Her friends are interesting, as well as her employees, and we learn different things about them through the series.
In this one when the bagpiper dies, she doesn't know who the killer is, obviously, but she tries to find out (which is expected). Is it someone she already knows, or a stranger to her? And why was the piper killed? Also, why, and this is a big one, was a Deputy Donut mug found next to him? She's afraid it might implicate her parents in the murder, and she knows they didn't do it. But looking for a suspect with so many people in town isn't easy. Still, she manages to ask the right questions without antagonizing anyone, and that's a big plus in my eyes.
It isn't easy to write a review without giving away the plot line, mainly because this book has not been published yet, but I can tell you that Emily has a lot to do in this book, with the festival and wedding plans, and it might even be her cat Dep who gives her a clue, but you will have to read the book to find out. The clues are there, but watch for the red herrings that pepper the book.
When the ending comes, the climax is worth it all as Emily needs to use her wits to figure it all out and stay safe (as we know she will). It's practically the best part of the book and don't peek! I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did, and I look forward to the next in the series. 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/
No comments:
Post a Comment