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pitbulls_and_prose 's review for:
Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder
by Valerie Burns
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When Maddy's great aunt suddenly passes away and leaves her an inheritance of house and bakery. Surprise is an understatement as Maddy didn't even know her great aunt! She goes to the small town to start her life over and discovers there is a nefarious mystery afoot!
This was my first foray into cozy mystery and I don't know what I was expecting, but it mostly wasn't this. It was an entertaining enough read and it was pretty fast, but there was a lot in here that had me going "uhh I guess?". First of all, Maddy is a caricature of a person. She's presented as vapid, shallow, and completely incapable of doing anything (she didn't know how to crack an egg?). You get to know her a bit, but I just truly didn't understand her as a person. Secondly, the tone of the murders that took place were all over the place. One was actually very upsetting and another was presented as more of a "oh yeah, he died lol" vibe. I lost track of who all of these characters were and who Maddy liked or was suspicious of. Finally, they didn't solve the mystery????????????????????? Sure they solved parts of it, but not a huge part. I guess it's a series so it could be answered in another book, but this one mystery felt like it definitely should have been solved in this one.
This was my first foray into cozy mystery and I don't know what I was expecting, but it mostly wasn't this. It was an entertaining enough read and it was pretty fast, but there was a lot in here that had me going "uhh I guess?". First of all, Maddy is a caricature of a person. She's presented as vapid, shallow, and completely incapable of doing anything (she didn't know how to crack an egg?). You get to know her a bit, but I just truly didn't understand her as a person. Secondly, the tone of the murders that took place were all over the place. One was actually very upsetting and another was presented as more of a "oh yeah, he died lol" vibe. I lost track of who all of these characters were and who Maddy liked or was suspicious of. Finally, they didn't solve the mystery????????????????????? Sure they solved parts of it, but not a huge part. I guess it's a series so it could be answered in another book, but this one mystery felt like it definitely should have been solved in this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Suicide