Devi Nair
This is my first dip into Debra Sennefelder’s food blogger mysteries, and even though it’s book eight, I never felt lost. The relationships and callbacks to earlier installments are sprinkled in lightly, blending seamlessly into the current plot so new readers can catch the rhythm quickly.
Hope Early is refreshingly grounded as a sleuth. She doesn’t dive into danger with reckless abandon or keep crucial clues to herself. She communicates, collaborates, and still manages to stay likable and curious. There’s something comforting about a main character who uses both common sense and community to solve crime. Her circle’s involvement feels organic, and their support system adds that warm, familiar vibe that cozy mystery fans live for. And the setting? Between the blizzard, the tension, the personalities clashing like mismatched snow boots, and the lingering cold case haunting the narrative, it all blends into a smooth, bingeable mystery. The locked-retreat-turned-snowbound-trap is deliciously blends And Then There Were None tension with Hallmark-level charm. Clues drop at the perfect pace, red herrings are tasty, and the reveal felt earned instead of pulled out of thin air.
Bonus: the recipes sprinkled throughout actually made me pause my Kindle to Google whether brown-butter sage cookies are real (they are, and I blame Hope for the 11 p.m. baking spiral. My only tiny gripe? I now have seven books to add to my Everest-sized TBR. Send help (and stretchy pants).
Would I recommend it? If you love snowed-in mysteries, smart heroines who don’t play detective responsibly, and food descriptions that attack your diet, grab this. Perfect winter escape read that’ll make you glad you’re warm and murderer-free. Add The Cold Case and the Corpse to your TBR right now.
Murder, snow, and soup. What’s your favorite cozy recipe while reading winter mysteries?
Originally posted at www.viewsshewrites.com.
This is my first dip into Debra Sennefelder’s food blogger mysteries, and even though it’s book eight, I never felt lost. The relationships and callbacks to earlier installments are sprinkled in lightly, blending seamlessly into the current plot so new readers can catch the rhythm quickly.
Hope Early is refreshingly grounded as a sleuth. She doesn’t dive into danger with reckless abandon or keep crucial clues to herself. She communicates, collaborates, and still manages to stay likable and curious. There’s something comforting about a main character who uses both common sense and community to solve crime. Her circle’s involvement feels organic, and their support system adds that warm, familiar vibe that cozy mystery fans live for. And the setting? Between the blizzard, the tension, the personalities clashing like mismatched snow boots, and the lingering cold case haunting the narrative, it all blends into a smooth, bingeable mystery. The locked-retreat-turned-snowbound-trap is deliciously blends And Then There Were None tension with Hallmark-level charm. Clues drop at the perfect pace, red herrings are tasty, and the reveal felt earned instead of pulled out of thin air.
Bonus: the recipes sprinkled throughout actually made me pause my Kindle to Google whether brown-butter sage cookies are real (they are, and I blame Hope for the 11 p.m. baking spiral. My only tiny gripe? I now have seven books to add to my Everest-sized TBR. Send help (and stretchy pants).
Would I recommend it? If you love snowed-in mysteries, smart heroines who don’t play detective responsibly, and food descriptions that attack your diet, grab this. Perfect winter escape read that’ll make you glad you’re warm and murderer-free. Add The Cold Case and the Corpse to your TBR right now.
Murder, snow, and soup. What’s your favorite cozy recipe while reading winter mysteries?
Originally posted at www.viewsshewrites.com.