Happy Saturday! Rockets' Dead Glare by Lynn Cahoon comes out on June 5 along with Bought the Farm by Peg Cochran. The Spook in the Stacks by Eva Gates will be published on June 12. You can stock up on novels to read while relaxing on vacation this summer (or at home). A Supper Club Mystery series includes Carbs & Cadavers, Fit to Die, Chili con Corpses, Stiffs and Swine, and The Battered Body.
The Battered Body by Ellery Adams
is the fifth novel in A Supper Club Mystery series. James Henry is the head librarian for
Shenandoah County Library in Quincy’s Gap.
His father, Jackson is getting married on Christmas Eve to Milla. James wants the newlyweds to be on their own
when they return from their honeymoon, so he has been looking for his own
home. After trying on his suit for the
wedding, he notices that his weight has gone up considerably since Milla
started cooking for the two men. James consults
nutritionist, Dr. Ruth Wilkins and starts keeping a food journal. Now if he can just avoid the cheese doodles
(and cake, cookies, the break room snack machine). At dinner about two weeks before the wedding,
Milla announces that her sister is coming for the wedding and she will be
making the cake. It turns out that Milla’s
sister is Paulette Martine, a famous chef and “Diva of Dough”. Milla requests that James pick her up at the
airport and warns him that Paulette can be “prickly” (that doesn’t bode
well). Prickly turns out to be an
understatement for the Diva’s attitude (rude, condescending, and critical are
more accurate) and she estranges every person she encounters (unless there are press
present). One morning James receives an
early call from Lucy that the Diva has been found dead in the Widow’s Peak Inn
kitchen covered in the cake batter she was mixing (what a waste of good cake
batter). The Supper Club members are
once again caught up in a murder. Can
they whip up the killer and get the wedding back on track?
The Battered Body is an entertaining
cozy mystery. I thought The BatteredBody was well-written, it had a steady pace and good flow (smooth transitions
between sections). I do recommend
reading Carb & Cadavers before embarking on other books in A Supper Club Mystery series. It will help you get to
know the characters, their backgrounds and relationships. There is quite a bit
going on in The Battered Body. The
Fitzgerald brothers are intelligent, caring men. The libraries Elf on the Shelf is missing, and
they intend to get it back. Scott has a
girlfriend, and it is putting a strain on the twin’s relationship. They need to find a lady friend for Francis. James is hoping to start again with Lucy
Hanover, but there may be an insurmountable obstacle in their path to
happiness. James struggle with dieting adds
levity to the book. I thought the author
did a wonderful job at portraying the struggle many people have when trying to lose
weight (especially during the holiday season and when a famous chef is in town
cooking/baking up a storm). Bennett
Marshall, the postal carrier, is going to appear on Jeopardy and he is
diligently studying. Murphy Alistair’s
book is coming out soon and the Supper Club is dreading it. They know that Murphy will not be kind. It is pleasant to see the changes in Jackson
Henry. He has certainly transformed
since the first book in this series, though, there is still is some gruffness
about him (adds to his charm). The
mystery was well-crafted, and readers will be surprised at the end. It is not one that can be completely solved
before the reveal (we are not given all the details until later in the
book). I welcomed the delightful quote
from Cicero which books lovers everywhere can relate to. The quote is “a room without books is like a
body without a soul”. I am eager to read
the next installment in A Supper Club Mystery series which is Pasta Mortem (available on May 21, 2018)
I will be sharing my thoughts on Beyond the Pale by Claire O'Donohue on Sunday. It is the first A World of Spies Mystery. I hope you have a peaceful day. Stay safe and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
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