Blackberry Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke
Rating: 3 Stars
Description: Hannah Swenson is used to finding dead bodies but has yet to be the reason they're deceased. Until now that it is, when a tragic yet unavoidable leaves a man dead on the side of a back road during a terrible storm Hannah has no choice but to find out who he was and what really happened. Between feeling guilty and wanting to clear her name the town of Lake Eden is once again involved in another murder investigation.
Genre: Mystery
My Impression: Joanne Fluke is one of those names that you see around if you read cozies for any length of time but this is the first one of hers that I've picked up. All the titles involve food and I was a little worried the mystery itself would be to cutesy because of the titles. What I found instead was a well done mystery filled with likable characters. The mystery itself did take a turn into some darker elements in life and those were handled well despite a somewhat artificial feel. Hannah's mother, Deloris's wedding is an entertaining side plot. The love triangle doesn't feel very love triangle-y and it was a mystery to me why Hannah hadn't made up her mind as it seemed kind of obvious. There were 2 elements that kept it from being a 4 star book. One was the exercise machine. It just felt so random and unnecessary and yet so much time seemed to be spent talking about it. Also, the ending had a cliffhanger aspect which didn't seemed very abrupt. I actually went back and reread the last pages to make sure I hadn't missed anything. Hannah actually does work at her bakery which is a nice change from many cozy amateur sleuths who never actually seem to do their jobs. The recipes look amazing which isn't normally something I think when reading a book with recipes. Fluke has a cookbook I've seen bouncing around the library that I'm going to have to track down. All in all, this is a fun, light, well done mystery and while it isn't the perfect the pros far outweigh the cons. The good thing for me is she has a tremendous back list I get to read now!
Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Yes
Would I Recommend this Book?: Yes, to any cozy mystery lover.
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