A review by qu33nofbookz
Death by Pumpkin Spice by Alex Erickson

1.0

Right off the bat I don't like the heroine of the story. Negative self-esteem, no confidence or will power she is a spineless doormat. As the book progresses all of a sudden she does a 180 and had spunk, but is as petulant as a 12 year old. She is not a cop and says so repeatedly but stick her nose into the murder investigation and begins to act like the lead and only investigator even after being told repeatedly by the cops and other people to stop. She talks about it being her investigation and she won't be left out of her case! The cops threaten to lock her up and then do a 180 and do as she says!? I would have locked her up and charged her with obstruction and interference a long time ago. She holds back information from one detective and even the police chief to hold on to her involvement and won't tell anyone but a cop named Paul who she has a crush on, had one date with and thinks she is in love with him despite being on a date with a doctor named Will who she likes possibly loves then doesn't then does....she goes back and forth between these two men like a ping pong ball at a table top tournament. What these two men see in her I will never know because all she shows them is self doubt, an attitude of a preteen and keeps running off on them at the drop of a hat. Oh and she is being stalked by Robert, her ex-boyfriend who just won't leave her alone. She goes from being scared of him and thinking to get away and what she might do to him, to 1 action and back to being scared. He grabs her and harasses her twice in front of witnesses and she never once asks for help? She is standing next to the police chief at her last encounter with him and doesn't mention that she doesn't like him, he is staking her and she is afraid!? By the end of the story when she has a confrontation with the bad guy I was rooting for him to kill her! For however big the town in the story is and it sounds like a nice size it had 2 cops and a police chief who are all incompetent if you ask me. To rely on and let this woman run all over them is a joke, this case and any previously and I'd guess after would never hold up in any court. Yet the author wants us to believe that this is just the norm? I know it's fiction and a "cozy" mystery but this is just too much out in left field fiction.