by: Connie Archer
Series: Soup Lover’s Mystery
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release Date: April 5, 2016
Source: Publisher ~ Berkley
Soup shop owner Lucky Jamieson stirs up more trouble in the latest mystery from the national bestselling author of Ladle to the Grave...
When Lucky Jamieson opens up By the Spoonful to host an event with a famous author, she’s not expecting a bunch of nuts to descend on her small-town soup shop. But the author’s exasperating entourage—from a prickly publicist to a snippy son and his tipsy wife—give fresh meaning to the phrase, too many cooks spoil the broth.
The evening is more than spoiled, however, when it ends with a homicide. When the manner of the murder—as well as another recent unsolved crime—echoes the author’s fiction, Police Chief Nate Edgerton realizes he has a copycat killer on his hands. And Lucky hopes that one of her regular customers who has mysteriously gone missing isn’t involved. Once again, the soup shop owner will need to stir up some clues to find her friend and catch a cunning killer—before things really take a tureen for the worse...
REVIEW
In A Clue in the Stew, Snowflake, Vermont is all abuzz when mystery author Hilary Stone decides to do a book signing in the small town. The excitement is squashed when bodies are discovered similar to the crimes found in her book, Murder Comes Calling.
When it’s discovered that a friend/customer has more than enough motivation to commit at least one of the murders, Lucky and her employees/friends of By the Spoonful form the Murder Investigation Club. If the police won’t catch a killer, they certainly will. Unfortunately, Lucky’s attention is divided between looking for clues, running the restaurant, and keeping a watchful eye on her grandfather Jack who has caught the eye of the newest By the Spoonful waitress. Something about this lady is off and her arrival in town seems a little odd.
I was totally and completely blindsided as to the whodunit!!! That is probably why I loved this story so much. There are enough red herrings in this book to keep you guessing up to the very end. Lucky pulls out all the stops to catch a killer and risks her life in the process.
Connie Archer continues to prove why she’s one of my favorite cozy mystery authors and why the Soup Lover’s Mystery Series is one of my favorite series. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, reading a book from this series is like hanging out with old friends. A Clue in the Stew sets the stage for new adventures and beginnings for Lucky and her best friend Sophie. I wish everything about this series was real just so I can continue to be a part of the story well after the page reads “The End”.
It should be noted that while A Clue in the Stew is the fifth book in the Soup Lover’s Mystery Series, it is a standalone read.
**Received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest unbiased review.**
Rating: 5
Purchase A Clue in the Stew from:
A Soup Lover’s Mystery Series:
(Clicking on the book covers will take you to Amazon.)
A Broth of Betrayal ~ Review coming soon
Connie Archer is the national bestselling author of the Soup Lover’s Mystery Series from Berkley Prime Crime: A SPOONFUL OF MURDER, A BROTH OF BETRAYAL, A ROUX OF REVENGE and LADLE TO THE GRAVE. The fifth book in the series, A CLUE IN THE STEW, will be released in Spring, 2016. Connie's recipes can be found in THE COZY COOKBOOK from Penguin Random House and THE MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA COOKBOOK.
Connie was born and raised in New England. She now lives on the other coast.
Places to find Connie Archer:
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Great review! This series sounds really good, I love the idea. I'm always a fan of red herrings and being surprised.
ReplyDeleteSuze, I ♥♥ this series. Ladle to the Grave came out I had been sick for a weekend. I got an early copy and I sent my Valentine's Day reading. It was the happiest I was all week.
DeleteI just read Ladle to the Grave last month, so I'm all caught up and ready to go for Clue in the Stew! It sounds great!
ReplyDeleteI LOVED this book. After you read it, you may want to hug the book or your tablet. But I can't give anymore away.
Delete