HONEY BAKED HOMICIDE by Gayle Leeson

Publisher:     Berkley

Published:     December 5, 2017

ISBN:        978-1101990827

Genre:      Cozy Mystery

Format:     Print

Obtained via:  Publisher

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  myreviewbooks@aol.com

TWO-1/2 HEARTS

 

Business at the Down South Café is doing quite well and now proprietor Amy Flowers has decided to add some local honey to the local items available for sale.  Local beekeeper Stu Landon’s first delivery sells out so fast Amy ventures out to his farm to see about having him deliver more the next day.  Stu agrees to do so.  He shows up the next morning, only it’s not honey he has in his truck.  No, it’s Stu himself and someone has killed him.  Amid rumors of a difficult neighbour several new people arrive in town.  Since the Down South Café is one of Winter Garden’s more popular spots for the townsfolk to gather the residents come for news and some good food.  Amy tries her best to stay out of things, but when her life is threatened she finds herself on the trail of a killer.

I really liked books 1 and 2 of Gayle Leeson’s Down South Café Mysteries and was looking forward to her latest, Honey-Baked Homicide.  I’m not sure what happened between the two books but for most of this one I wondered if someone else had done the writing.  It was not the same engaging, down home comfort read I’ve come to expect from Ms. Leeson.  The writing was stilted and read more like someone in grammar school wrote it for someone at that level rather than a seasoned author.  The killer seemed to come out of nowhere.  Maybe it’s because there were some very strong clues going in one direction, but I wondered at the end if the author didn’t know who it was herself and then went with the most creative.  There were leaps in some of the clues and factual inaccuracies that could have been presented correctly with just a little research. 

I like the characters.  Dilly and Aunt Bess are a hoot.  And the premise of the killer in HONEY BAKED HOMICIDE was a good one. 

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

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SILENCE OF THE JAMS by Gayle Leeson

Publisher:    Berkley
Published:   April 4, 2017     
ISBN:            978-1101990803
Genre:       Cozy Mystery
Format:     Print
Obtained via:  Publisher  
Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com

FOUR HEARTS

Amy Flowers’ Down South Café is doing quite the good business despite the recent murder – for which Amy was the original suspect. And her love life isn’t doing too badly either with local deputy, Ryan, dancing attendance on her.  But life has its share of twists and turns and all in one fell swoop Amy’s life takes one of those turns. First her cousin Jackie’s wayward mother, Renee, arrives in town.  Worse, however, is when one of her patrons, George Lincoln drops dead in the middle of his breakfast at the café.  While his death initially looks like a heart attack the coroner comes back with a report of poisoning.  At least this time the Sheriff doesn’t have Amy in his sights at Suspect #1.  That, however, doesn’t stop Amy from trying to find the killer. After all, if a murder happened in your café, wouldn’t you want to find the killer?

I enjoyed Gayle Leeson’s first book in her Down South Café mystery series so when book 2, SILENCE OF THE JAMS arrived I had to immediately dig in. Leeson gives readers several stories wrapped up in one good mystery. Aside from who killed George, there’s the question of some missing files, a Chamber of Commerce election and just what is going on with Aunt Renee. There are a couple of deeper threads which the reader can dwell on if he or she wishes—or just go with trying to suss out who the killer is before Amy finds him…or her.  It basically comes down to reader’s choice. There is some nice character and relationship development between books 1 and 2—nothing is rushed and those changes are an integral part of the story. You don’t have to read book 1 to thoroughly enjoy book 2, but if you don’t, you’ll be missing out on a good read.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

THE CALAMITY CAFÉ by Gayle Leeson

Publisher:     NAL

Published:     June 7, 2016   

ISBN:        978-1101990780

Genre:       Cozy Mystery

Format:     Print

Obtained via:  Publisher  

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com

FOUR HEARTS

Amy Flowers’s long time dream has to been to open and operate her own café.  With the passing of her beloved Nana she has the money to begin to achieve her goal.  If only her Nana was there to celebrate with her. Now that she’s ready to move forward she approaches her current employer, Lou Lou, to see if she will sell her café, Lou’s Joint, to her.  Lou Lou not only says no, but mocks Amy.  Undaunted Amy begins to make plans to build her own café, the Down South Café, from the ground up.  She is then surprised to receive a call from Lou Lou’s son, Pete, later that night telling her that he’s gotten his mother to change her mind and they will in fact sell her Lou’s Joint.  There is one catch, however, Pete tells Amy they need to seal the deal that night, before Lou Lou changes her mind.  Amy agrees and full of hope she heads off to Lou’s Joint.  When she arrives it isn’t Lou Lou and Pete she finds—rather it is Lou Lou alone and she is dead.  When the police arrive their questions point to quickly solving the crime – in other words, pointing the finger at Amy.  After all, Amy has the most to gain from Lou Lou’s death.  Or does she?

THE CALAMITY CAFÉ is the first of Gayle Leeson’s Down South Café mysteries and my first of her books for me but it will not be the last.  What a fun read with a good mystery and some interesting twists.  If this is her way of telling a story I’m all in for future reads.  When I first started THE CALAMITY CAFÉ I was a little turned off by what looked like was going to be a rendition of dumb southerners.  It’s been done before and not well and I was about ready to put the book down rather than go along that road.  I’m glad I stuck with it because it wasn’t long before I really started to like Amy Flowers.  She’s epitomizes the kind of person you’d like to have as your friend.  She’s warm, friendly and cares about her friends.  She’s also smart and determined and a great problem solver.

Cafes serving southern dishes have been done before as well, but there’s some differences in Leeson’s book that make for creative cooking.  The mystery had some nice twists to it.  A decent spread of red herrings keep the reader guessing just who done it.

Definitely a series I’ll be keeping up with.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.