Hello, hello,
It is September and all of the Western hemisphere is getting excited for fall/ colder days! Now, for us in India, we have two more hot months to endure before it starts getting cooler but we can already start getting into a cozy state of mind via books!
With that in mind, here are some recommendations of three 'cozy' murder mysteries by Meri Allen.
Book 1: The Rocky Road to Ruin by Meri Allen
Plot Summary: Riley Rhodes, travel food blogger and librarian at the CIA, makes a bittersweet return to her childhood home of Penniman, Connecticut - land of dairy farms and covered bridges - for a funeral. Despite the circumstances, Riley's trip home is sprinkled with reunions with old friends, visits to her father's cozy bookshop on the town green, and joyful hours behind the counter at the beloved Udderly Delicious Ice Cream Shop. It feels like a time to help her friend Caroline rebuild after her mother's death, and for Riley to do a bit of her own reflecting after a botched undercover mission in Italy. After all, it's always good to be home.
But Caroline and her brother Mike have to decide what to do with the assets they've inherited - the ice cream shop as well as the farm they grew up on - and they've never seen eye to eye. Trouble begins to swirl as Riley is spooked by reports of a stranger camping behind the farm and by the odd behavior of the shop's mascot, Caroline's snooty Persian, Sprinkles. When Mike turns up dead in the barn the morning after the funeral, the peace and quiet of Penniman seems upended for good. Can Riley find the killer before another body gets scooped?
Review: This is such a great first book in a series of cozy murder mysteries. Set in a small town in Connecticut, the writing brings the town of Penniman alive along with its sundry charming characters and secrets.
As far as the mystery goes, it is a pretty decent one. There are a few red herrings but it is not that difficult to guess who the killer is.
So, if you are someone who does not like hard core, violent, gory murder mysteries, then this is the book for you.
The characters are lovely. The whole vibe of the book is cozy and cute and there is a proper murder to solve too!
Rating: 4/5
Book 2: Mint Chocolate Murder by Meri Allen
Plot Summary: When Udderly Delightful Ice Cream shop manager Riley Rhodes is summoned to Penniman’s Moy Mull Castle, it’s the cherry on top of a successful summer season. The gothic pile built by an eccentric New England Gilded Age millionaire has been transformed into a premiere arts colony by Maud Monaco, a reclusive former supermodel. As part of Moy Mull’s Fall Arts Festival, Maud is throwing a fantasy ice cream social and hires Riley to whip up unique treats to celebrate the opening of an exhibit by Adam Blasco, a photographer as obnoxious as he is talented.
As Penniman fills up with Maud’s art-world friends arriving for the festival, gossip swirls around Blasco, who has a dark history of obsession with his models. Riley’s curiosity and instincts for sleuthing – she was a CIA librarian – are piqued, and she wonders at the hold the cold-hearted photographer has over the mistress of Moy Mull.
But when Adam is found dead behind the locked door of Moy Mull’s dungeon, Riley realizes there’s more than one suspect who’d wanted put the malicious photographer on ice.
Review: A sophomore effort that is not at all disappointing. The writing, characters and overall fall-in-New-England feels are so perfect. The crime itself is interest and there are several red herrings as well.
Like I said, it is not the most challenging to figure out who the killer is but there is so much more to these books than just murder solving!
Rating: 4/5
Book 3: Fatal Fudge Swirl by Meri Allen
Plot Summary: Former CIA librarian and amateur sleuth Riley Rhodes is loving her fresh start as the manager of the Udderly Delicious Ice Cream Shop. The leaves are turning, tourists are leaf-peeping, and Penniman, Connecticut is putting finishing touches on the weekend long Halloween Happening. But the village is also buzzing. Former child star Cooper Collins is overseeing the production of a romantic comedy that’s filming on the town green and his domineering socialite mother, Diantha, is planning her lavish Halloween themed wedding at her Inn on the Green. Her fiancé has run the Inn's kitchen for years, ably aided by his recent ex-wife, chef Mary Ann Dumas. An old friend of Riley’s, Mary Ann turns to her when the bride requests a spooky ice cream wedding cake.
But the weekend takes a frightful turn when Diantha is found dead and suspicion falls on Mary Ann. The cast of potential suspects is long―each wedding guest had a chilling motive to kill the vicious heiress. Can Riley unmask the murderer before another guest ends up on ice?
Review: Compared to the first two books, Fatal Fudge Swirl is much more layered and nuanced as a murder mystery. There are many more characters at play and multiple people with motives to murder Diantha.
Plus, we are in full Halloween mode and just the description of the lovely New England fall foliage made me so nostalgic for Octobers in that part of the world.
Rating: 4.5/5
If you love murder mysteries with a cozy backdrop, lovely characters and strong relationships, then these three books are just perfect for you.
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