Book Review: The Crêpes of Wrath, A Pancake House Mystery by Sarah Fox

This enjoyable 'cozy' has nice imagery, strong characters and an engaging plot.

The Crêpes of Wrath
A Pancake House Mystery
by Sarah Fox

File Size: 6124 KB
Print Length: 257 pages
Publisher: Alibi (August 16, 2016)
ASIN: B01A4ATX58
Genre: Cozy Mystery
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

In the debut of a delightful cozy mystery series, Sarah Fox introduces a charming new heroine who finds herself in a sticky situation: stacking pancakes, pouring coffee, and investigating murder.
Bonus content: includes original recipes inspired by the Flip Side Pancake House menu!
When Marley McKinney’s aging cousin, Jimmy, is hospitalized with pneumonia, she agrees to help run his pancake house while he recovers. With its rustic interior and syrupy scent, the Flip Side Pancake House is just as she pictured it—and the surly chef is a wizard with crêpes. Marley expects to spend a leisurely week or two in Wildwood Cove, the quaint, coastal community where she used to spend her summers, but then Cousin Jimmy is found murdered, sprawled on the rocks beneath a nearby cliff.
After she stumbles across evidence of stolen goods in Jimmy’s workshop, Marley is determined to find out what’s really going on in the not-so-quiet town of Wildwood Cove. With help from her childhood crush and her adopted cat, Flapjack, Marley sinks her teeth into the investigation. But if she’s not careful, she’s going to get burned by a killer who’s only interested in serving up trouble.

Review:
Marley has taken a leave of absence to help her cousin Jimmy who is in the hospital with pneumonia. Marley is waitressing and managing Jimmy’s Flip Side Pancake House until Jimmy can get back on his feet. Instead, when Jimmy calls to say he is coming home, he is found murdered on the rocks at the bottom of the cliff near his home.

Marley has run into an old flame, Brett, a fellow she met when she summered on the island as a teen. He hasn’t forgotten her and she remembers him too. Marley discovers some stolen art works in Jimmy’s workshop. Now she is intent on proving that Jimmy wasn’t a thief and she may as well investigate his murder at the same time.

The police think Marley’s co-worker is the guilty party, but several other suspects are soon in Marley’s sights. The criminal activity picks up as someone breaks into the Flip Side office and then Jimmy’s office. When suspects start to disappear Marley focuses on another shady character. Can she determine the right crook before she becomes a victim?

This was an easy and fun read. I enjoyed Marley’s thought process as she reviewed clues. The author did a good job of laying out clues, providing multiple suspects while hiding the true villain. The gentle romance growing between Marley and Brett has a nice warm touch. The settings and imagery are nicely written and the story background is quite natural, life-like.

This was my first book by this author but I expect it won’t be my last. I do recommend this to readers of cozy mysteries or readers who don’t necessarily read this genre but might want an easy, light read.

I received this title through NetGalley for an honest review. It qualifies for my NetGalley Challenge.

Book Review: The Bluebonnet Betrayal, A Potting Shed Mystery by Marty Wingate

This is an easy, delightful cozy mystery with gardening interests and lovely warmth – other than the death of course.

The Bluebonnet Betrayal, A Potting Shed Mystery
by Marty Wingate

File Size: 2129 KB
Print Length: 294 pages
Publisher: Alibi (August 2, 2016)
ASIN: B017QLSIU4
Genre: Cozy Mystery
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Bestselling author Marty Wingate “plants clever clues with a dash of romantic spice,” raves Mary Daheim. Now Wingate’s inimitable gardening heroine, Pru Parke, is importing a precious bloom from Texas—and she won’t let a vicious murder stop her.
Pru’s life in England is coming full circle. A Texas transplant, she’s married to the love of her life, thriving in the plum gardening position she shares with her long-lost brother, and prepping a Chelsea Flower Show exhibit featuring the beloved bluebonnets of the Texas hill country. Technically, Twyla Woodford, the president of a gardening club in the Lone Star State, is in charge of the London event, but Pru seems to be the one getting her hands dirty. When they finally do meet, Pru senses a kindred spirit—until Twyla turns up dead.
Although Twyla’s body was half buried under a wall in their display, Pru remains determined to mount a spectacular show. Twyla would have insisted. So Pru recruits her husband, former Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Pearse, to go undercover and do a bit of unofficial digging into Twyla’s final hours. If Pru has anything

Review:
Pru Parke is a ‘transplanted’ Texan living and gardening in England where she now lives with her new husband. Pru and her newly found brother are working to restore the gardens on a country estate. Pru has been asked by a Texan gardening ‘friend’, Twyla Woodford, to help set up a Texas exhibit for the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show in London.

Pru arrives at the exhibit site and begins to meet the various crew: an aloof ‘designer’, Roddy; a competent, if angry, crew boss, Chiv, and his jealous partner, Iris; a mostly absent, wealthy sponsor, Damien; and a young, enthusiastic researcher, Forde, who is convinced the sponsor will buy his special biofuel product. Pru picks up on some tension among these crew members even before she meets the Texas garden society ladies. Pru picks up five of the Texas ladies at the airport only to learn that their fearless leader, Twyla, has been delayed.

Twyla finally arrives and she and Pru hit it off right away. Twyla has some concerns that she has to resolve although she doesn’t fully explain the problems to Pru. This gives Pru fuel for the mystery when Twyla is discovered murdered the next morning. The Chief Inspector immediately warns Pru to keep her nose out of the investigation and to keep her husband, Chris, the former chief inspector who retired and now serves as consultant, out of the way too.

This of course won’t work for Pru who is determined to find Twyla’s killer while she also continues preparing for the exhibit. Pru drags Chris onto the crew to investigate under cover. As they make their inquiries, Pru learns that all four men, and several of the ladies, had relationships with Twyla that might provide a motive for the killing. Now they just have to narrow the field of suspects without getting in the line of fire.

Although there initially seemed to be quite a lot of characters and suspects, Ms. Wingate does a wonderful job of tying all the details together while hiding the true killer until an exciting confrontation at the end. The story brims with gardening background that I found interesting and I loved the gentle humor. Each chapter begins with a tidbit from the fictional ARGS (Austin Rock Garden Society) news or minutes. There is a sweet romantic vibe between Pru and Chris that adds to the story.

There is a rich warmth and easy style (yes, cozy) to the writing which makes this enjoyable entertainment. This is the second Potting Shed Mystery that I have read by Ms. Wingate and I highly recommend this author and series to readers who like cozy mysteries.

I received this title through NetGalley for an honest review. It qualifies for my NetGalley Challenge.