Reviews

I received my copy of this book via Goodreads giveaway, which has no influence on my rating or review.

I almost DNFed this book. I felt like the beginning was extremely weak. Some of the phrases were oddly written, and had the spelling and punctuation been off, I would have dropped it.

I'm glad I didn't.

Sawyer Davis has returned home following her mother's death, and is trying to find a way to turn a profit at her mother's foundering bookstore and a way to access the trust overseen by her uncle Frank, the town mayor, so she can open her own restaurant. Add a love triangle between a past love and a possible future one, and a goldendoodle puppy (all orchestrated by her mother before her death), and Sawyer has enough to keep her busy, even before a former schoolmate dies during book club at the bookshop.

This turned out to be a fun little read. Like most cozy mysteries, it's a little farfetched, but it was a little more restrained than some others I've read. I had the killer pegged for a long time, so there was no surprise there.

The surprise was that the writing got better as the story went on (only one odd turn of phrase about 90% in after the dubious beginning). I enjoyed watching Sawyer learn more about her mother as she tried to unravel the mystery.

There are some suitably quirky characters that populate the town, and I enjoyed meeting most of them, too. I thought the romance angle was a bit much at times, and Sawyer made some questionable decisions, but I've pretty much accepted that those are a staple in a lot of modern cozies.

Story ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, reminiscent of the original Nancy Drew series. Not my favorite ending, but I would be willing to revisit Sawyer (and adorable puppy, Cooper!) again in the future.

3 out of 5 stars.

kjelu1022's review

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4.0

Thank you to the author, Tamra Baumann, and the publisher for providing me with an ARC, through Netgalley, of "Plotting for Murder".

Sawyer, a chef, returns to her hometown of Sunset Cove, California, following the death of her eccentric matchmaking mother, Zoe, a local business owner of a mystery bookshop. Throw in a new puppy, a few attractive eligible men (including a former boyfriend), running a mystery bookshop (when she does not read mysteries), a magician father, a crumbling Victorian house, a greedy uncle who controls the family's trust fund, dreams of opening her own restaurant, what could go wrong?

In the beginning of the book, a book club meeting results in a death of one of its members, Sawyer and her former boyfriend, the local sheriff must race to find out who the killer is and what is the big mystery that Sawyer's mother wanted her to solve in order to realize her restaurant dreams.

Initially, I felt this book was all of the place with multiple situations going on at the same time. At times, I felt that these multiple situations were too much for a first book in a new cozy mystery series. However, Baumann did an excellent job of bringing all the storylines together for a solid ending.

I look forward to reading more books in this series.

stellagramina's review

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I listened to this one as an audiobook via Libby. There were some fun parts; I almost never finish a book I didn’t enjoy, so keep that in mind with my criticism. I didn’t love the present tense narration. I also feel like having Sawyer run a mystery-themed book store was too on the nose and took me out of the world of the book.

This book also contains my number one least favorite trope-a cop romance. I did finish this one, but the amateur sleuth plus cop combo is almost always dealbreaker for me, but I won’t read the rest of the series. This is for both ethical and aesthetic reasons. I will say that as far as second chance romances go, it was written well.

Overall, Sawyer did a terrible job sleuthing. If there wasn’t the clue side plot, she’s really be unnecessary to solving the murder. The clue side plot was fun but also pretty unbelievable. I tried to just suspend my disbelief—it is a cozy, after all.

Again, I don’t finish books that I hate, so this is not a pan. I just think it could’ve been better.

thisandthatwithkaren's review

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5.0

Plotting for Murder is a fabulous start to a new cozy series. I loved the setting of Sunset Cove, California a small town with lots of quirky characters, the main protagonist, Sawyer, is a young woman who is making a choice to honour her mothers wishes at the same time feeling overwhelmed by everything to go with the trust and a golden doodle puppy named Cooper. Add a murder, threats, the attention from two hunky men and lastly a treasure hunt and you have all the ingredients for a great cozy. I loved Sawyers tenacity, loyalty to her family, friends and her natural curiosity and of course she had to try to figure out who the killer was to save her reputation.

The story held my attention from the start to finish, read it in one sitting, I couldn't put it down. There were lots of twists and turns and few red herrings thrown in for good measure. I highly recommend this book to all my cozy mystery friends, I really enjoyed it! I cannot wait for the next instalment as I want to know what happens next.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

cherese's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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