Book 76, 2024
Glazed Murder by Jessica Beck
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I finished my "spare" book this evening. It was Glazed Murder by Jessica Beck, and it's the first in the "Donut Shop" cozy mystery series. The main character is Suzanne Hart.
After her divorce, Suzanne used her settlement to purchase a donut shop in her home town of April Springs. She's moved back home to live with her mother so she can save on expenses until the shop starts turning a profit. Suzanne is alone in the shop very early one morning when someone dumps a dead body on her doorstep. The victim was Patrick Blaine, a regular customer. The police begin investigating, aided by a state officer named Jake Bishop. Feeling a sense of obligation to Patrick, Suzanne starts asking questions on her own. In the meantime, her ex-husband, Max, keeps popping up, indicating he wants to renew their relationship. Since he cheated on her, Suzanne has no intention of reconciling with him. She devotes her time instead to making donuts and doing some investigating on the side. Unfortunately, Suzanne's sleuthing has put her firmly in the killer's sights.
This was your basic cozy that included the tired trope of a romantic interest being someone in law enforcement. I wasn't on board with why Suzanne felt the need to investigate the murder. She was never a suspect, and Patrick was simply a customer. Her method of sleuthing was heavy handed and involved outright lying to several people and misrepresenting herself, which I didn't like. The subplot involving Max was more annoying than anything, and Suzanne's mother (Momma) was an overbearing, interfering busybody. Overall, the characters were portrayed well enough, and the plot made sense as it progressed.
Favorite lines:
♦ Being referred to as an item on a killer's to-do list wasn't something I enjoyed hearing.
♦ I've always been more of a blue-jeans kind of gal than a dressed-to-kill lady.
♦ "We're not trying to solve the case of the strange light in the bell-tower. This is real life."
♦ "You have the subtlety of a wet fish slapping someone in the face."
♦ "I couldn't fit into your clothes with a shoehorn and a bucket of Crisco."
♦ This man was slick enough to sell saltwater to a mermaid.
I'd like to give this 3.5 stars; since I can't, I'm going to round it down to three.
1. Does the mc work at/as one of the following: baker/bakery/sweet shop/tea shop/coffee shop, library/librarian, antique/vintage shop, book store, fashion/boutique, bed & breakfast? Yes, she owns a donut shop
2. Does the mc live at her (or his) place of occupation? No
3. Is the love interest involved in law enforcement? (Police officer, sheriff, detective, PI, FBI) Yes
4. Does the mc have a dog/cat as a pet? No, she doesn't have a pet
5. Is the mc's BFF either a gay guy or a ditzy/zany woman? No
6. Did the mc find the body? Yes
7. Did the mc wind up in mortal danger at the end of the book? Yes
8. Is the mc's mother either: dead, absent, far removed, ditzy and dithering, or overbearing/disapproving/meddling? Yes
9. If mother is dead/absent, does the mc have another mother-figure (grandmother, aunt, mom's friend, or an older friend)? N/A
10. Is the mc child-free? (Either no children or else grown children--i.e. no small children to look after) Yes