Banana Slit

Book/Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 (rounded up) Book Cover: ⭐️⭐️ POV: Singular, Third Person Series/Standalone: Series Part of an interconnected series: Yes First in series: Yes Safe or Dark: Safe  My husband thought this was a “porn book” based on the title. It is not. However, I can see why he would think that.  I was in the market for a cozy mystery, and that is exactly what I got with this book. It was quick, cute, cozy, and fun. For the first time in a while, I have little to no complaints when it comes to a book I've read. The plot moved at a good pace and was engaging. All the characters were likeable, even the murder suspects. I adored Joe Wiggins, the local ice cream lover and retired private investigator. I also liked the fact that Anna did not have a love interest pop up right away. Sometimes in cozy mysteries, love interests show up quickly, and a relationship develops. It can seem forced and unnecessary. That being said, I did say I had LITTLE to no complaints, not that I had NONE.  This is where my trusty list comes into play. It will be short this time, I promise. Okay, I can't promise, but I'm pretty sure it will be. 1) Our main character, Anabelle “Anna” McBride, lost her Irish twin, Isabella “Bella” McBride, in a boating accident four years prior to when this book takes place. I honestly don't even know if I spelled those names right. I can't remember, and I am too lazy to open the book and find out. Also, I didn't know what an Irish twin was, so I looked it up. [“The term “Irish twins” refers to one mother having two children who were born 12 months or less apart.”] I kept trying to figure out why Bella being Irish was so important, and I thought it was weird that Anna never once mentioned that she was Irish. Thank goodness I got that straightened out, but, per usual, I digress. After Anna loses her sister, she decides to close her counseling practice in Boston and move to Seagull Cove, a quaint (fictional) town on the coast of Massachusetts, so she can realize her late sister's dream of opening an ice cream shop. That's all well and good. I had no issue with that. I actually found that to be rather sweet. What I did have an issue with was the name of the above-mentioned ice cream shop, Bella's Dream. I have no idea why I hated that name so much. It just didn't scream ice cream shop to me. I definitely think that the author could have gotten more creative with that one. I also couldn't escape the name, since it was constantly brought up. Instead of simply saying, “Anna woke up and got dressed to head to her shop or work”. It would say something like, “Anna woke up and got dressed to head to Bella's Dream”. Things were worded like this repeatedly. We already know where you work, girl. There is no need to remind us every two seconds. I'm aware that having an issue with the name of the shop is just me being picky, and it in no way takes away from the story itself. 2) Very early in the story (the first or second chapter), a local musician who hit it big, Marcus Grady, is murdered behind Anna's shop next to the dumpsters after performing at her grand opening event. The grand opening went well, and Anna was pleased to get a lot of business. But after this horrific incident occurred, the foot traffic in her store quickly dwindled. Which is understandable. This is how she got involved in the murder, despite having no prior investigative or police experience. She needed to find out who killed Marcus to make things in town right again. What got old fast was Anna's woe-is-me attitude and her constant complaining about the murder screwing up the chances of her shop becoming a success. We had to hear her inner monologue about wondering if she would ever recover from this tragedy and how she was worried she would have to shut down the shop due to a lack of business. We also had to hear about the fact that she had lost one or two employees in the process since they feared for their safety while working there. Again, this is all very understandable; I just got sick of listening to Anna's pity party. But I guess if I was concerned about how my bills would get paid, I would be feeling pretty down too. This brings me to the next point on my list. 3) Anna rapidly lost business due to the murder, and that caused her shop to be in the red. She wasn't turning a profit. Which is normal for some time after starting a new business. But she was concerned about recovering in the future and making her shop a solid investment. Anna had sold her condo in Boston and used the proceeds to buy her new home in Seagull Cove. She had also nearly drained her savings account from remodeling and opening her shop. She was financially strapped, but she continued to make questionable financial decisions. She was rapidly hiring more employees than she needed at the time, which, of course, meant she had to pay more people. Anna promoted Velma, her most valued and experienced employee, to store manager, even though she didn't need to since she was still in the shop almost every day. Now, she had to adjust Velma's pay to reflect her new position. I guess those things aren't catastrophic decisions since they were to better her business, but another choice she made with her money was just stupid. Anna desperately wanted the mound of dirt in front of her house to be a beautiful English garden, but she had a black thumb. Her neighbor, Wanda, had a super green thumb and a beautiful garden. So, she enlists the help of Wanda (whom she pays in ice cream) and dumps all this money into flowers, sod, decorations, and other gardening supplies. Surely, her garden could have waited until her store started turning a profit and she was more financially stable. Having lovely flowers in your yard is not a life-or-death situation; it's not something that needs to be at the top of the priority list. Especially since she complained about the added surprise expenses her shop required. Anna, honey, this could have been done later. 4) Anna was supposedly a trained psychologist/counselor, but the decisions she made and the characteristics she showed did not reflect her past career. Again, probably something minute that only bothered me. Okay, that list ended up being longer than I expected. I had more complaints than I thought. I told you guys I couldn't promise anything. Anna's story continues in the next book in the series, [b:I Scream 59848001 I Scream (A Seaside Ice Cream Shop Mystery Book 2) Angela K. Ryan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1639858066l/59848001.SX50.jpg 94266360]. However, I'm not sure if I will be reading it. As much as I enjoyed this book, I just don't think I'm invested enough in Anna's story to continue. Overall, I enjoyed this story and am glad I read it. I grabbed this for free on Kindle. I believe it is now available for $3.99 if you are interested in checking it out.