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read_with_steph 's review for:
A Waffle Lot of Murder
by Lena Gregory
90% of the reason I read this book was because of the cover. It was just so adorable! Dogs, and pumpkins, and waffles, oh my! Sign me up for a cute cozy mystery--especially a fall, Halloween one--any day of the week.
Gia runs the All-Day Breakfast Cafe in Boggy Creek and, as a transplant, she's excited to receive a coveted initiation to participate in the harvest fright night, where local businesses take over abandoned houses to create an attraction for locals and advertise their services! However, when someone is murdered on the fairgrounds, everyone feels unsafe and the fair may not even happen! Gia can't help meddling in the investigation, with her best friend Savannah, right by her side.
This was my first in the All-Day Breakfast Cafe Mystery series, and I do think I was at a slight detriment, not understanding the character's backstories and relationships more. Gia and Savannah's relationship felt too good to be real, and Gia's quasi-boyfriend Hank seemed random and not at all boyfriendish. I think if I had been with these characters for the first three books, it wouldn't have felt as artificial. Despite the murder, a lot of the people in town have quite a gloss and seem to fall very neatly into buckets of "good" and "bad." I love the comfort of cozy mysteries, in knowing my heroine is going to be okay, nothing is going to be too creepy, and we normally get some A+ food descriptions--and this book checked all those categories. But if you're not a cozy mystery fan, this one may feel just a little bit too clean with not enough quirk, romance, or humor to cover up its neatness. In the end, I'd say that the high points of this book--an interesting, cohesive plot, a Halloween/fall theme, superb food descriptions, and a charming town--make it an easy recommendation for cozy mystery fans, but the lack of humor, quirkiness, romance, or grit may make it a hard read for those unfamiliar with or new to the genre.
4 stars - 6/10
Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for my free eARC in exchange for an honest review of this book!
Gia runs the All-Day Breakfast Cafe in Boggy Creek and, as a transplant, she's excited to receive a coveted initiation to participate in the harvest fright night, where local businesses take over abandoned houses to create an attraction for locals and advertise their services! However, when someone is murdered on the fairgrounds, everyone feels unsafe and the fair may not even happen! Gia can't help meddling in the investigation, with her best friend Savannah, right by her side.
This was my first in the All-Day Breakfast Cafe Mystery series, and I do think I was at a slight detriment, not understanding the character's backstories and relationships more. Gia and Savannah's relationship felt too good to be real, and Gia's quasi-boyfriend Hank seemed random and not at all boyfriendish. I think if I had been with these characters for the first three books, it wouldn't have felt as artificial. Despite the murder, a lot of the people in town have quite a gloss and seem to fall very neatly into buckets of "good" and "bad." I love the comfort of cozy mysteries, in knowing my heroine is going to be okay, nothing is going to be too creepy, and we normally get some A+ food descriptions--and this book checked all those categories. But if you're not a cozy mystery fan, this one may feel just a little bit too clean with not enough quirk, romance, or humor to cover up its neatness. In the end, I'd say that the high points of this book--an interesting, cohesive plot, a Halloween/fall theme, superb food descriptions, and a charming town--make it an easy recommendation for cozy mystery fans, but the lack of humor, quirkiness, romance, or grit may make it a hard read for those unfamiliar with or new to the genre.
4 stars - 6/10
Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for my free eARC in exchange for an honest review of this book!