Happy Book Release Day! There are many delightful new novels out today. Some of the new books include Tangled up in Tinsel by Tonya Kappes, Silver Anniversary Murder by Leslie Meier, The Walking Bread by Winnie Archer, Final Roasting Place by Devon Delaney, Christmas Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke, Forever Fudge by Nancy Coco, Decaffeinated Scandal by Tonya Kappes, A Simple Christmas by Charlotte Hubbard (lovely story), The Amish Christmas Letters by Sarah Price, Jennifer Beckstrand and Patricia Davids, A Wells Landing Christmas by Amy Lillard, The Ghost and the Bogus Bestseller by Cleo Coyle, Assault and Beadery by Mollie Cox Bryan, and Bells, Spells and Murder by Carol J. Perry. Wow!
Premeditated Peppermint by Amanda Flower is the third tale in An Amish Candy Shop Mystery series. Bailey King is looking forward to a peaceful
Christmas in Harvest, Ohio with her grandmother, Clara and cousin,
Charlotte. They have been busy preparing
a variety of peppermint candies for their Swissmen Sweets table at the Harvest
Christmas Market. Then a grinch arrives
in the form of Bailey’s ex-boyfriend and baker, Eric Sharp along with a camera
crew. He wants to film the Christmas
special of his show in Harvest with Bailey.
Bailey agrees to meet the producer, Rocky Rivers the next morning to
discuss the proposal. On her way to the
meeting, Bailey notices a set of lights out on the gazebo. When she enters the gazebo, Bailey finds
Rocky dead with the lights wrapped around her neck and Eric standing over her
body. Deputy Aiden Brody quickly arrives
on the scene and targets Eric as his prime suspect. Eric asks Bailey to prove his innocence
before he ends up as head baker at the local prison. Linc Baggins (not a hobbit) arrives to take
over production of the show and he has a surprising business proposition for
Bailey. Then Juliet Brody approaches
Bailey with a special request for her almost daughter-in-law (Aiden and Bailey
have yet to have a first date). Juliet
feels that Jethro has the face for television, and she wants Bailey’s help
jumpstarting the pig’s career. Then
Margot needs Bailey’s help with the live nativity. Bailey’s Christmas is quickly spiraling out
of control.
Premeditated Peppermint is an
entertaining cozy mystery as you can tell from my summary. You will be hooked from the very first page. While Premeditated Peppermint can be read
alone, I suggest reading the series in order. It will provide you a better understanding of
Bailey and how she came to live in Harvest.
I thought Premeditated Peppermint was well-written with a good pace. It is just the right length at 306 pages. I had been reading a different book that was
dragging along (I fell asleep), so I switched to Premeditated Peppermint and
quickly devoured it. Harvest is a quaint
small town that has a mixture of Amish and English citizens. There are charming shops and events that
attract tourists such as the Harvest Christmas Market. Bailey is a smart and talented main
character. I was happy to see Bailey’s
best friend, Cass pop up in Harvest to help Bailey. Juliet Brody is quite a character. She goes around town with her pig, Jethro on
a leash. I can see Jethro acting as the
ring bearer if Aiden and Bailey ever marry (picture Jethro wearing a cute little
tux). There are many laugh out loud
moments in Premeditated Peppermint courtesy of Juliet, Jethro, Eric, Margot
Rawlings, and the camel, Melchior. I
enjoyed the descriptions of the delectable candies being prepared at Swissmen
Sweets. The mystery was interesting with
a handful of suspects and misdirection.
The method of murder fit in with the book and the author provided good
clues to aid the reader in solving the crime. Master sleuths will have no problem identifying the killer. There are recipes at the end of book and a preview of Toxic Toffee. My rating for Premeditated Peppermint is 4
out of 5 stars. I recently introduced my mother to this series. She just loves Jethro, the polka dotted pig and wants to know when Aiden and Bailey will get their first date. The other two books in An Amish Candy Shop Mystery series are Assaulted Caramel (kindle version currently $.99) and Lethal Licorice.
If you enjoy Amanda Flower's books, look for her upcoming Death and Daisies which comes out on November 13 or Murders and Metaphors which will be out on February 12, 2019. I appreciate you checking out my review today. I will feature A Christmas by the Sea by Melody Carlson tomorrow. Have a delightful day and Happy Reading!Kris
The Avid Reader
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