Review and Giveaway: Drizzled with Death

Drizzled with Death (Sugar Grove Mystery - Book 1) by Jessie Crockett

Publication Date: 10/01/2013
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Berkley Prime Crime
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 304
ISBN-10: 0425260003
ISBN-13: 978-0425260005

(Received for an honest review from Berkley Prime Crime)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, IndieBound

Jessie Crockett on the WEB: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads

Excerpt from Drizzled with Death, courtesy of Amazon's Look Inside feature.

Synopsis:

Meet Dani Greene—a fourth-generation maple syrup maker dealing with a first-class troublemaker…
 
The annual pre-Thanksgiving pancake-eating contest is a big event in Sugar Grove, New Hampshire. It’s sponsored by the Sap Bucket Brigade, aka the firefighters auxiliary, and the Greene family farm provides the syrup. But when obnoxious outsider Alanza Speedwell flops face first into a stack of flapjacks during the contest, Greener Pastures’ syrup falls under suspicion.
 
Dani knows the police—including her ex-boyfriend—are barking up the wrong tree, and she’s determined to pull her loved ones out of a very sticky situation. The odds may be stacked against her, but she’s got to tap the real killer before some poor sap in her own family ends up trading the sugar house for the Big House…

Thoughts:

Jessie Crockett starts out her Sugar Grove Mystery series with Drizzled with Death. This novel is combination of mystery and comedy. The townsfolk of Sugar Grove are both witty and down right funny. The situations that heroine Dani Greene finds herself getting mixed up in are nothing short of hilarious. Who finds a mountain lion on the front porch? Or has to figure out why the local busy body ends up face first in the flapjacks? It's a hysterical tale of maple syrup and mayhem set against the backdrop of the New England leaves. Jessie Crockett is definitely on to something!

This book had me snickering from the first chapter. Author Jessie Crockett has a knack for writing comedy into her mysteries. Readers will find themselves always with a smile and sometimes with an explosive belly laugh as they read this book. Everyone from the heroine to the supporting cast has a bit of fun about them which gives the book an air of mystery and a touch of hilarity. I don't often find myself enjoying the humor of most cozy mysteries, because lets face it the main theme is murder... LOL! But this one is different. It's unique and it's full of surprises. The theme might be dark but the humor is not. 

A long time native of New Hampshire Crockett picks the perfect setting for a book with a maple syrup theme and a murder plot. She adds tidbits of backstory on the town and the townspeople deftly. She doesn't hit readers over the head with the last hundred years in Sugar Grove, but leaves quite a bit to the imagination until it is needed. I liked that a lot. I felt like I was learning about the people and town in a more natural way than some authors tend to give readers. It was a nice touch.

I loved the whole side angle of the escaped zoo animals and how they kept turning up at all the wrong places. Dani the heroine obviously was a bit of a charmer, because she was always finding them. This was also a way to introduce fish and wildlife warden, Graham Paterson, who I think will definitely remain a part of the series. This aspect of the book brought a lot of comic relief and plenty of unusual happenings.

I liked main character, Dani Greene, with her mysterious first name and her interesting profession. In the cozy sub-genre you can find anything from cupcake makers to espresso barista,s but I think this is the first time I've seen a maple syrup maker take center stage. Dani has spunk and sass and she is devoted to her very eccentric family. Crockett makes readers want to meet this young lady and sit down for a stack of pancakes. She was a delightful heroine.

The mystery aspect of the book was just as funny as the rest of it. There were so many suspects and a plethora of motives, but Crockett easily keeps the readers guessing all the way to the end. I liked the fact that Dani had to entertain the thought that someone in her family may be involved and that she was willing to do just about anything to figure out who really did the deed. Alanza Speedwell made a good victim here. She was unliked and full of vinegar and that was a great plot device. This is definitely a series I want to continue with. A great first in a series book, but potential for a lot more fun romps in the Granite state.

Drizzled with Death is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

About the Author:

A nearly life-long resident of the Granite State, Jessie naturally adores black flies, 98% humidity and snow banks taller than the average grandmother. When not working on her next murderous adventure she enthusiastically combs the beach and throws parties. She lives with her dark and mysterious husband and exuberant children in a village so small many other New Hampshire residents have never heard of it. Her debut mystery, Live Free or Die, won the 2011 Daphne du Maurier Award for Mainstream Mystery. Hearing from readers makes the winters seem shorter so please visit at jessiecrockett.com.

Giveaway Details:

The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of Drizzled with Death by Jessie Crockett.

~ You must be an email subscriber to participate.
~ US Addresses only.
~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST, October 22nd.

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