It is hard to believe it is the last day of August. The month went by so quickly for me. A Christmas by the Sea by Melody Carlson will be available on September 4 along with The First Love by Beverly Lewis and A Deadly Brew by Lynn Cahoon (this is a novella).
Goodbye Cruller World by Ginger Bolton is the second tale in A Deputy Donut Mystery series. Emily Westhill and Tom Westhill co-own Deputy
Donut in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin. Their
shop has been commissioned by Jenn Zeeland, who owns Dressed to Kill, to
provide a late night snack for her wedding guests at her wedding reception. They have constructed a donut wall (with
dowels to hold the donuts) and Tom’s wife, Cindy added some decorative
touches. At Little Lake Lodge, Emily
puts out the fresh donuts and they are an instant hit (who doesn’t love freshly
made donuts). Emily is being twirled
about the dance floor when the groom is discovered curled up on the carpet by
the donut wall. Scott Ritsorf, the fire
chief, attends to the victim while Emily notices a saucer with a strange white
substance hidden under her hat. It
appears that someone used Deputy Donut’s crullers to poison the groom. Unfortunately, the groom does not survive and
the police chief calls in DCI to work the murder. When Detective Yvonne Passenmath is assigned
the case, Emily knows she needs to track down the poisoner to save Deputy Donut’s
reputation. When Detective Passenmath narrows her investigation
to Jenn, Emily needs to work quickly before Jenn must trade her wedding dress
for a prison jumpsuit.
Goodbye Cruller World can be read
on its own. The author provides the
necessary backstory on Emily and the secondary characters along with what occurred
in Survival of the Fritters. I found the
book to be easy to read and I liked the steady pace. However, we really do not need every activity
described in detail (unlocking the shop doors, turning on the lights, making
the coffee, wiping down the tables, etc.).
The author needs to take the time to develop the characters in the
series. They are not fleshed out and the
secondary characters felt flat. I like
Misty, Samantha, Scott, Brent, Tom and the others. I just wish we knew more about them. I could do with Emily spending less time
trying to match up her various friends (as she avoids dating and the fact that
two men would like to date her). Dep,
the cat, is adorable and playful. I like
that the author has Emily talk to Dep and he responds with his little “mmp”
noise. I did not understand why other
characters, like Brent, would answer with a “mmp” though. I would re-read the paragraph because I
wondered if I had missed something (was it a person talking or the cat). The mystery could be solved before the bridegroom
consumes his first cruller. The killer
was as obvious as powdered sugar on a black shirt. Emily does ask questions, but she spends an inordinate
amount of time speculating on the crime with Dep (I want more solid content). I
like that Brent listens to Emily’s insights and the information that she digs
up on the suspects. I intensely dislike
Detective Yvonne Passenmath. She is
another cliché nasty detective who focuses on finding evidence to convict
innocent people instead of following the evidence to find the guilty party. I would like to know more about the town of
Fallingbrook. We are given scant details
on this little hamlet in Wisconsin. There
are delectable donuts described in the story and recipes at the end of the
book. Goodbye Cruller World is an easy breezy cozy mystery that will have you
making a run to your local donut shop. I
am giving Goodbye Cruller World 3 out of 5 stars.
Survival of the Fritters-kindle edition-(first book in A Deputy Donut Mystery series) is currently on sale for $1.99 (at least it was when I wrote this posting). Thank you for visiting today. I hope you day is filled with brightness. I will be sharing my review of The Mending by Susan Lantz Simpson tomorrow. Take care, enjoy the day and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
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