Book 22, 2024
The St. Valentine's Day Cookie Massacre by Elisabeth Crabtree
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read The St Valentine's Day Cookie Massacre over the course of two evenings. It's the first book in author Elisabeth Crabtree's "Hatter's Cove Gazette" mystery series. Story is in first person pov of the main character, journalist Kat Archer.
Kat left the hustle and bustle of Miami to return home to quiet Hatter's Cove. When the quiet becomes too boring, she takes a job at the local paper in hopes of getting some exciting assignments. Instead, her handsome boss, Hayden, keeps sending her out to write food reviews. When Kat is sent to the Cookie Jar to cover their grand opening on Valentine's day, a fight ensues and closes the place down. Later, someone is found dead behind the store and Kat is right in the thick of things. The victim died of poisoning and half the town believes that the poison was intended for Kat. She isn't convinced, and she's soon chasing down leads and interviewing witnesses and suspects alike in an effort to catch a killer.
What a fun and lively story! I adored Kat and her irreverent wit. Her interactions with other characters were entertaining, including both potential romantic interests: her boss, Hayden, and Detective Luke, whom she knew from Miami. The plot was fast-paced, but I would have liked to see Kat just living life. Instead, the entirety of the narrative was consumed with her investigation.
Favorite lines:
♦ "I said their trout had all the flavor of an old tire, but was harder to chew."
♦ "I didn't know a brawl would break out."
♦ I decided that my night could be better spent watching cats on the internet from the safety of my own living room.
♦ "I wrote that the only thing more punishing than listening to the sub-par wailings coming from their so-called musical acts, was trying to bite into their rolls. I then said they should change the name on the menu from Bubba's Buttery Blues Soft Rolls, to Bubba's Buttery Rock n Rolls. At least then it wouldn't be false advertising." // Hayden shook his head. "I just can't imagine why anyone would want to poison you."*
♦ I have the pick of the litter, unfortunately it's kitty litter in this instance.
A fun and funny romp. I'm deducting a point for the fact that the entire story was nothing but Kat's investigation. Four stars. If I could award 4.5 stars, I would.