Helpful Score: 1
Dollycas's Thoughts
What a delicious mystery!
Talia Marcy leaves a job she hates and a crumby boyfriend behind to return hometown and work at a place that is like her second home. She worked at Lambert's Fish & Chips in high school and the owners Bea and Howie became almost a second set of parents. She knew it was just the place for her to reset and regroup her life until the right job comes along. Then the cantankerous Phil Trumbull shows up to torment Bea with some kind of petition to stop a new comic book store from opening. Bea has a few choice words for him, deep frying him in oil were some of the included words, but she never meant it in the literal sense. When Talia and Bea find him dead, (not fried), Bea's words come back to bite her when she becomes the #1 suspect. Talia decides to prove Bea's innocence by trying to catch the killer herself. Hopefully she doesn't become the day's catch herself.
I love Talia, she's strong and smart and she deeply cares about her friends. Bea means the world to her and they work together like a well-oiled machine. Bea is a special lady too. Not afraid of hard work and with a heart as big as all outdoors. She reminds me of my own mom. I was really engaged by both of them. Whitnee also works for Bea. She is a student with a very overbearing mother. Both Bea and Talia do their best to look out for her.
The setting for this story is the charming Wrensdale Arcade. A shopping plaza where all the shop exteriors looked like they popped right out of an old English village. It sounds like a very unique place.
The murder happens very early in the story but readers still have time to figure out enough about Phil Turnbull to understand why he was so disliked. As the story continued and more suspects were revealed and we see they all had motivation to kill the man. As quickly as the man was killed the clues quickly lead to someone I totally didn't expect as the killer. I had the WOW light bulb over my head. A really well executed twist.
I really enjoyed the background story of Talia staying in her Nana's house while it was up for sale. Dealing with realtors, trying to to make herself not too much at home because this is just a temporary living arrangement. She even has a kitty come to her door who she starts to feed and soon the little guy has not only wormed his way into the house but also Talia's heart.
This is truly a grand debut. It checks all the boxes of what I love in a great cozy mystery. Likable and believable characters, a comfortable setting, and a mystery that keeps you guessing right up to the final reveal.
What a delicious mystery!
Talia Marcy leaves a job she hates and a crumby boyfriend behind to return hometown and work at a place that is like her second home. She worked at Lambert's Fish & Chips in high school and the owners Bea and Howie became almost a second set of parents. She knew it was just the place for her to reset and regroup her life until the right job comes along. Then the cantankerous Phil Trumbull shows up to torment Bea with some kind of petition to stop a new comic book store from opening. Bea has a few choice words for him, deep frying him in oil were some of the included words, but she never meant it in the literal sense. When Talia and Bea find him dead, (not fried), Bea's words come back to bite her when she becomes the #1 suspect. Talia decides to prove Bea's innocence by trying to catch the killer herself. Hopefully she doesn't become the day's catch herself.
I love Talia, she's strong and smart and she deeply cares about her friends. Bea means the world to her and they work together like a well-oiled machine. Bea is a special lady too. Not afraid of hard work and with a heart as big as all outdoors. She reminds me of my own mom. I was really engaged by both of them. Whitnee also works for Bea. She is a student with a very overbearing mother. Both Bea and Talia do their best to look out for her.
The setting for this story is the charming Wrensdale Arcade. A shopping plaza where all the shop exteriors looked like they popped right out of an old English village. It sounds like a very unique place.
The murder happens very early in the story but readers still have time to figure out enough about Phil Turnbull to understand why he was so disliked. As the story continued and more suspects were revealed and we see they all had motivation to kill the man. As quickly as the man was killed the clues quickly lead to someone I totally didn't expect as the killer. I had the WOW light bulb over my head. A really well executed twist.
I really enjoyed the background story of Talia staying in her Nana's house while it was up for sale. Dealing with realtors, trying to to make herself not too much at home because this is just a temporary living arrangement. She even has a kitty come to her door who she starts to feed and soon the little guy has not only wormed his way into the house but also Talia's heart.
This is truly a grand debut. It checks all the boxes of what I love in a great cozy mystery. Likable and believable characters, a comfortable setting, and a mystery that keeps you guessing right up to the final reveal.
