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A review by nicolem_young
Herbs and Homicide by Carly Winter
2.0
Book/Story: ⭐️⭐️.5
Book Cover: ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️
Trigger Warning(s): Murder
Cancer
Drug Addiction
POV: Singular, First Person
Series/Standalone: Interconnected Series
First In Series: Yes
Trope(s): None
Spice: None
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Debut Novel: No
Slow or Fast Burn: Fast
Safe or Dark: Safe
Release Date: June 9, 2022 ️
I’m going through a time in my life where I needed a fun, quick, cozy mystery read, and this was the kind of cute book I was looking for. I needed the fluffiness of it right now. However, I just had such a hard time getting into the plot. Despite that, it did hold enough of my interest that I was able to finish the book.
Sam Jones, formerly known as Samantha Rathbone, is our main character. She leaves her life as a soap opera star in Hollywood behind her. Opting for a fresh start in the small town of Heywood, Arizona, after a severe fall from grace. Her husband was a very shady person who hid things from her and destroyed their life together. His less than legal activities caused his eventual murder. All Sam wanted to do was fall off the map. Which was proving to be more difficult than she thought.
I didn’t care much for Sam’s character. She often came off as judgmental of anyone and everyone around her. Her lack of trust was not enjoyable at all. I get that she had trust issues because of her past but she literally didn’t trust a one single person she came in contact with. It was so tiring. It was if every little move someone made was untrustworthy. “Oh, Anabelle side stepped to the left instead of the right. I for sure shouldn’t trust her.” (that’s not an actual quote from the book.)
I wasn’t enjoying the dialogue. It fell flat for me more often than not. A lot of the conversations seemed forced and unnatural. Some of the characters said things that just felt off the wall and out of place given the discussion going on at the time.
Sam’s coworker Annabelle is a woman in her 50s who longs to be back in the 1980s again. Which is great. I loved how she dressed the part and enjoyed the music. However, her character was portrayed as being somewhat childish. I know she loved and missed a time period of her youth but having her say “like” every other word when speaking to someone was unnecessary. The characters aesthetic would have gotten across to the reader without having to do that.
It also wasn’t very realistic (at least to me it wasn’t) that the owner of a store would be murdered and two of her employees would keep going to work and keeping the shop open the very next day. I understand that people need to make a living but neither of the above-mentioned employees owned the store, controlled the payroll or had access to any other aspect of the business. I could understand enjoying your job and still wanting to work at the store. But wouldn't you just wait to see what happens once the estate was settled? It was just strange.
There were also some very weird, low-key jabs at modern medicine and pharmaceuticals sprinkled throughout the story. I get that medications and modern medicine don’t work for everyone, but it was a bit off-putting.
I had inklings as to who the murderer might have been, but I was presently surprised to find out at the end that I was wrong. Carly Winter did a great job of planting multiple red herrings. That was fun.
With that being said, Sam all of a sudden figuring out who the killer was is unexpected. While she had a lot of suspects on the table who each had a motive for wanting Bonnie dead, we are not given a deep enough look into Sam’s thought process on figuring out who the culprit was. It seemed like one minute she didn’t know who the killer was, and boom, the next minute she did. It was jarring and threw off the entire flow of the story. I wish there was more investigating done on the main characters part or that we were at least let in on it a bit more.
I don’t know if I would read the next book in this series ([b:Lavender and Lies|61702642|Lavender and Lies (Heywood Herbalist Cozy Mysteries #2)|Carly Winter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1658760555l/61702642._SY75_.jpg|97307576]). That is still to be determined. I guess we will have to wait and see what happens if I come across it in the future.
TLDR: A CUTE COZY MYSTERY! A GOOD FLUFFY READ!
As always, please remember that reading is subjective, and that’s what makes it so great.
Book Cover: ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️
Trigger Warning(s): Murder
Cancer
Drug Addiction
POV: Singular, First Person
Series/Standalone: Interconnected Series
First In Series: Yes
Trope(s): None
Spice: None
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Debut Novel: No
Slow or Fast Burn: Fast
Safe or Dark: Safe
Release Date: June 9, 2022 ️
“Her toxicity spread faster than the stench of her perfume.”
I’m going through a time in my life where I needed a fun, quick, cozy mystery read, and this was the kind of cute book I was looking for. I needed the fluffiness of it right now. However, I just had such a hard time getting into the plot. Despite that, it did hold enough of my interest that I was able to finish the book.
Sam Jones, formerly known as Samantha Rathbone, is our main character. She leaves her life as a soap opera star in Hollywood behind her. Opting for a fresh start in the small town of Heywood, Arizona, after a severe fall from grace. Her husband was a very shady person who hid things from her and destroyed their life together. His less than legal activities caused his eventual murder. All Sam wanted to do was fall off the map. Which was proving to be more difficult than she thought.
“It must be difficult to be a reporter in a town where the front-page news consisted of a tractor being stuck on the highway or the school’s bake sale.”
I didn’t care much for Sam’s character. She often came off as judgmental of anyone and everyone around her. Her lack of trust was not enjoyable at all. I get that she had trust issues because of her past but she literally didn’t trust a one single person she came in contact with. It was so tiring. It was if every little move someone made was untrustworthy. “Oh, Anabelle side stepped to the left instead of the right. I for sure shouldn’t trust her.” (that’s not an actual quote from the book.)
I wasn’t enjoying the dialogue. It fell flat for me more often than not. A lot of the conversations seemed forced and unnatural. Some of the characters said things that just felt off the wall and out of place given the discussion going on at the time.
“Hello, bitterness, my old friend.”
Sam’s coworker Annabelle is a woman in her 50s who longs to be back in the 1980s again. Which is great. I loved how she dressed the part and enjoyed the music. However, her character was portrayed as being somewhat childish. I know she loved and missed a time period of her youth but having her say “like” every other word when speaking to someone was unnecessary. The characters aesthetic would have gotten across to the reader without having to do that.
It also wasn’t very realistic (at least to me it wasn’t) that the owner of a store would be murdered and two of her employees would keep going to work and keeping the shop open the very next day. I understand that people need to make a living but neither of the above-mentioned employees owned the store, controlled the payroll or had access to any other aspect of the business. I could understand enjoying your job and still wanting to work at the store. But wouldn't you just wait to see what happens once the estate was settled? It was just strange.
“Some guy named Bubba in prison is going to be really happy to see you!”
There were also some very weird, low-key jabs at modern medicine and pharmaceuticals sprinkled throughout the story. I get that medications and modern medicine don’t work for everyone, but it was a bit off-putting.
I had inklings as to who the murderer might have been, but I was presently surprised to find out at the end that I was wrong. Carly Winter did a great job of planting multiple red herrings. That was fun.
“I won’t be bullied and pushed around by two witchdoctors.”
With that being said, Sam all of a sudden figuring out who the killer was is unexpected. While she had a lot of suspects on the table who each had a motive for wanting Bonnie dead, we are not given a deep enough look into Sam’s thought process on figuring out who the culprit was. It seemed like one minute she didn’t know who the killer was, and boom, the next minute she did. It was jarring and threw off the entire flow of the story. I wish there was more investigating done on the main characters part or that we were at least let in on it a bit more.
I don’t know if I would read the next book in this series ([b:Lavender and Lies|61702642|Lavender and Lies (Heywood Herbalist Cozy Mysteries #2)|Carly Winter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1658760555l/61702642._SY75_.jpg|97307576]). That is still to be determined. I guess we will have to wait and see what happens if I come across it in the future.
“But isn’t the fact that she’s feeling better the result we all wanted?”
TLDR: A CUTE COZY MYSTERY! A GOOD FLUFFY READ!
As always, please remember that reading is subjective, and that’s what makes it so great.