A great start to a new mystery series. Emily is a very relatable character with a sad backstory. Her crowd of first responder friends makes for a great support system and the crowd of regulars at the donut shop give us a look into the town and their secrets.

When one of her regulars, a member of the local knitting group called the Knitpickers, is found dead, and her neighbor Lois, who is swiftly becoming a friend, is behaving suspiciously, Emily starts investigating. She and Lois get into some hilarious situations, and Emily's tabby, Deputy Donut, is her constant companion and has good instincts about people.

The author tells a fascinating story and keeps the reader's attention from beginning to end. The reveal of the murderer was rather surprising, as the character was someone I expected to be around for a while. Can hardly wait to read the next story in the series.

Survival of the Fritters tests the bonds of friendship, mends it and shows you that friendship is all about.

This is a cozy unlike the other's in the sense that usually the mystery is wrapped up with hilarious and crazy characters which did not really get included in this book. But that being said I did not completely miss it.

Like real life people there are things you like about them and things you do not like about them. I do feel the same with Emily. She trusts her friends. Is not willing to give up on them. If there is something they need help with she will help them even if she did not like to or want to do it. After all, those are her friends. In that the author did a great job with portraying all the characters.

The plot was well crafted. A murder of a son and then the mother years apart but the same date. Kept me guessing and coming back.

The climax was intense. But the ending gave me hope that fate is not cruel. Second Chances do happen.

I loved the cover of this book and loved the description. The book was really hard to get into. The first chapter seemed like I had missed a chapter the way the first scene started. It got better a few chapters in, but I never felt a connection to the characters. I have read some great reviews, so I would it a try unless your someone who needs to be hooked on the first chapter

Survival of the Fritters is a delightful debut in the Deputy Donut series by Ginger Bolton. Our protagonist, Emily, owns and operates a donut shop with her late husband's father. The shop is named after her cat, Deputy Donut, and provides a great setting for character introduction, building of suspense, and delicious donuts!

Emily finds one of her customers dead and is soon helping to solve her death as well as a past unsolved mystery. We are introduced to a number of Emily's friends, her neighbour, and other community members. With plenty of red herrings and twists and turns, I found the mystery very well written and kept me guessing until the end. The characters and setting have a lot of potential for development, and I think this will be a fantastic cozy mystery series. I cannot wait to read more!

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington for an ARC of this novel in exchange for review.

This was the first cozy mystery I read in 2018, and I can't help but think it might end up at the head of my top 10 list by the time the year is through.

Protagonist Emily Westhill is a character I immediately came to care about, a former 911 operator who had to give up her career following the murder of her police officer husband. She's now building a new life for herself as the co-owner of a donut shop that caters to cops, Deputy Donut, alongside her father-in-law (also the retired police chief) and the cutest little torbie you'll ever meet, Dep. Murder comes to their peaceful little world when knitting club member Georgia Treetor is found dead in her home, and the nephew of her best friend and Emily's neighbor Lois Unterlaw becomes the main suspect. Investigating comes second nature to Emily and it isn't long before she connects the dots to the murder of Georgia's son 5 years prior.

I loved everything about this mystery and found myself guessing until the very end. I found the secondary plot of Emily's complicated relationship with Detective Brent Fyne, her husband's former partner, to be riveting, and I can only hope they manage to see what is obvious to Dep (and readers). So excited to find out what comes next for these characters!

This is the debut of a delightful new cozy series "The Deputy Donut Mystery Series by Ginger Bolton ! Utterly charming, cozy and humorous I enjoyed reading this promising new series.
Our setting is a small town of Fallingbrook, Wisconsin. Our protagonist is Emily Westhill who runs the popular donut shop with her retired police chief father-in-law and her tabby Deputy Donut. Her tabby is her fun sidekick. The shop is very popular with the local law enforcement who Emily is friends with and socializes with. A popular knitting group meets at her shop and becomes fast friends with Emily and her Tabby.
A horrifying murder occurs to one of the knitting ladies and Emily is on the case. She is soon finding multiple possible suspects and works with the local police to find the killer. The mystery heats up and is exciting and surprising to the very last page.
This is a smart fun debut cozy mystery. The author has a well crafted style of writing that is fast paced and interesting. The sleuth was excellent and left this avid mystery reader surprised at the outcome. The location and characters are done to perfection. The characters are all people you want to know and be friends with. I read it cover to cover and enjoyed it very much. I highly recommend this new series for all cozy mystery and mystery readers.
Thank you to the publisher and author for the ARC and opportunity to review this wonderful mystery, .

Strong start for a new cozy series! Emily and her trusty sidekick Dep the cat (yes, a cat) operate a donut shop with her father in law Tom. She's still struggling with the death of her husband so when a customer is found murdered five years after the death of the customer's son, well, Emily has to get involved because her own dead husband was unable to solve that murder. Whew. This is a set up book so you'll get back story on various characters and while there might seem to be some places where Bolton could have gone more deeply, there's room for her to expand in the future. There are recipes at the end (always a plus). Nicely written with good tone. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc. I'm looking forward to the next one!

Cops and donuts go together like cozy mysteries attract quirky characters. Ginger Bolton has mixed up a delicious new series for us to enjoy. Set in one of my favorite areas, northern Wisconsin, young widow Emily not only owns a designer coffee and donut shop, she is also friends with several of the town's emergency service providers. Her place is a haven for local knitters to gather and gossip.
When one of her loyal customers becomes a victim Emily can not sit on the sidelines and wait for news of the investigation.
I enjoyed the characters, especially intuitive Deputy Donut. While there wasn't a lot of fast paced action, much intellectual investigating was being bandied about. As we got to know the characters, the closest friends reminisced about their high school days and school girl crushes. There are also various mentions of creative arts. A nice first book setting up the potential for a fun cozy series.

Survival of the Fritters is a cozy mystery that features a quirky little donut shop called Deputy Donut. Emily Westhill and her father-in-law Tom named the shop after her cat, Dep (Deputy Donut). Cozy mysteries and food tend to go hand-in-hand and this book includes a lot of delicious looking recipes at the end.

When the gals from the local knitting group, the Knitpickers, ask her to join them in checking in on their friend, Emily doesn’t hesitate. However, as they arrive at Georgia’s house, they discover her lifeless body in the kitchen with a doll head shoved down her throat, donuts, and the donut box from Emily’s shop covering her face. As a former 911 operator and the widow of a police officer, Emily attempts to see if she can save poor Georgia. While it’s an honest effort, it’s too little too late and she winds up also messing with the crime scene. What happens afterwards is a whirlwind week of running the donut shop and slowly putting together the key pieces behind not only Georgia’s murder, but also the unsolved murder of Georgia’s son, Matthias five years earlier.

The author does a great job of creating an interesting plot and I honestly never figured out who was the murderer until she revealed it. The development of the plot was smooth and easy to follow along, while still easy to maintain my interest. Even the reflections upon Emily’s life with her deceased husband, fits naturally with the setting and doesn’t feel forced or redundant. This is nice, because it helps to develop the character of Emily. It also makes her relatable and realistic.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I like the way the author has begun to develop not only the main characters, but some of the background characters. In my opinion, the strength of a cozy mystery is the quirky and unusual townspeople that add flavor, humor, and even mystery to these kinds of book. I would highly recommend this book for any lover of cozy mysteries and I look forward to reading the next book… and trying out those delicious looking recipes!

This is the first book in the Deputy Donuts series, and it was a good start. The story was a little choppy at the beginning, and a little hard to follow, but that quickly changed. The main character was very likable and there was a hint of what may become a romance somewhere down the line. All in all, a good read!

Survival of the Fritters by Ginger Bolton is the first book in the new cozy Deputy Donut Mystery series. The main character Emily Westhill runs a donut shop with her father in law in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin and when one of their regular customers is found dead Emily finds herself in the middle of the case.

This series to me has a lot of potential to be a really good one but I didn’t think it stood out and shined much in the first book. Emily was likable enough as a character but I didn’t feel overly drawn to her either. I would have liked to have seen her have a bit more determination in solving the crime instead she seemed to be dragged into investigating.

The book also starts off in the donut shop with a whole group of local elderly ladies attending their knitting club so I was immediately on alert hoping this group would be featured quite a bit with some hilarious hijinks and when that didn’t come about I thought it was a missed opportunity. The main characters in the story felt like they weren’t quite fully developed so the secondary ones seemed to completely hide in the shadows but hopefully we’ll get more in the future.

The setting is a nice one that I enjoyed and I was glad to see some sort of connection to law enforcement giving the main character a bit more believability. There was a possibility of a future love interest but thankfully so far it wasn’t pushed as we just touched on what had happened to our character in the past. In the end I'd rate this at 3.5 stars and I thought while there was room for a bit of improvement this could still lead to a great series overall in the future.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I really enjoyed the debut of this new series. Being from the Midwest, I especially enjoyed the setting. The characters were all relatable, they seemed like people I’d be friends with. I love books like that. I look forward to reading more of this new series.

This was a fun start to a new series. I really liked that Emily didn't rely on her father-in-law, the former police chief, for help in solving the murder. The mystery was well written, and I was surprised by the ending. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next book.

A charming and delightful cozy mystery. Spoiler alert, Deputy Donut is a cat. Many interesting characters of all ages. Warning, you may crave a donut or fritter or something to satisfy your sweet tooth cravings. The publisher provided a copy via NetGalley for my voluntary review. I look forward to reading the next one in this new series.

I do enjoy a good cozy mystery--especially a mystery set here in Wisconsin. And did I mention doughnuts? What's not to like?!

Emily Westhill is the owner and operator of Deputy Donut, the best and most popular shop in Fallingbrook. It's not something she anticipated, but Emily's husband, Alec, a police detective, always loved her doughnuts and bragged about them to the full force. After her husband died in the line of duty, Emily left her job as a 911 operator and opened Deputy Donut, named after the couple's cat. The shop is a success and Emily loves seeing all of the regulars who come in for good coffee and delicious doughnuts. When one of the ladies in the town's local knitting group is missing, Emily joins some other ladies and goes to find her. What they find it shocking--and could be part of a larger unsolved mystery five years in the making.

Survival of the Fritters is a quick reading cozy mystery with a handful of suspicious characters--and bonus recipes. A find start to a new series.

Ginger Bolton's new Deputy Donut mystery series is off to a highly entertaining start with Survival of the Fritters. Main character Em and her cat Dep feel like new friends, and Lois is the spunky older neighbor everyone wishes for. I'm looking forward to getting to know Brent, Misty, Randy, and the others better in the next book, which is already on my TBR list.

Emily gets involved in a murder mystery when her customer is found dead and her new neighbor is attacked. Are the two incidents related? Something is amiss and it’s up Emily to figure it all out.

This light drama was well written and I enjoyed the multi-plot scenario that had the right pitch in how this story was being told. The author did a good job in setting this mystery up with narrative that was visually descriptive, keeping me in tuned with all that was happening between what Emily discovered in her search for answers and the person trying to keep it hidden. It all came to fruition in the final moments between Emily and the killer that let me breathe again. A good start and the characters were developed nicely for a first book and I look forward to learning more about them in the next book in this tasty delight.

Survival of the Fritters is the debut of the Deputy Donut Mystery series set in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin and featuring Emily Westhill, co-owner of Deputy Donut, a small donut shop she owns and runs with her father in law Tom, the retired Police Chief. Emily is a former 911 operator who resigned her position when husband and police officer Alec was killed in the line of duty.

A group of women knitters who call themselves the Knitpickers meet at the donut shop regularly. When one of their members, Georgia Treetor doesn't arrive for the morning get together, the ladies become concerned. When her best friend Lois Unterlaw still hasn't heard from Georgia later in the day she convinces Emily to join her and the rest of the women for a trip to Georgia's house. Unfortunately, the women find Georgia dead in her kitchen with a box of Deputy Donuts crammed over her head.

Joined by her husbands ex partner, Detective Brent Fyne, Emily sets out to find Georgia's killer. Emily quickly discovers that there is a tie between the unsolved murder of Georgia's son Matthias and Lois' nephew Randy. When Lois is attacked in her backyard, Emily isn't sure who the killer is but she's determined to find the truth before someone else ends up dead.

A fast paced plot, interesting characters, a hint of romance and an adorable tabby cat. Parts of the book do bog down a little with background information on each of the main characters and the relationship between Emily and Tom is a little strange in that they spend no time together outside of work nor is her mother in law ever introduced or mentioned. This just seems a little odd considering how much in love Alec and Emily were supposed to be and their close knit family dynamic.

I received an advanced copy of Survival of the Fritters from NetGalley via Kensington Publishing. While not required to write a review I am more than happy to offer my honest opinion.

4.5 Stars
Survival of the Fritters is the first book in Ginger Bolton’s Deputy Donut Mystery series. The mystery is intriguing and the characters are well developed. Twists and turns, red herrings, and suspects abound in this well written whodunit. This entertaining book held my interest and kept me guessing until the surprising reveal. I’m looking forward to reading future books in this series.

Emily Westhill and her father-in-law, Tom Westhill, own and operate a donut shop, Deputy Donut, in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin. Before opening the donut shop, Emily was a 911 operator, and her deceased husband, Alec, was a police officer who was killed in the line of duty, she has a delightful fur baby named Deputy Donut (usually called Dep to avoid confusion), and her best friends are Misty, a police officer, and Samantha, an EMT. Tom is a retired detective and police chief and he designed the office so Dep could comfortably spend his days at the shop. Deputy Donut has a lot of faithful customers and tourists are attracted by the wonderful fried treats and coffee de jour. Everyone is concerned when one of Deputy Donut’s loyal customers, Georgia Treetor, a member of a group of knitters known as the Knitpickers who meets there every weekday, doesn’t show up. The Knitpickers and Lois Unterlaw, Georgia’s friend who recently moved back to Fallingbrook, show up at the donut shop after hours and ask Emily to accompany them to Georgia’s home to check on her. When the women arrive, they find the front door open and soon discover Georgia’s body on the floor in the kitchen. DCI Detective Yvonne Passenmath is called in and Detective Brent Fyne, Alec’s previous partner, is removed from the investigation because Emily found the body and tainted the crime scene, and because he and Alec investigated the unsolved murder of Georgia’s son, Matthias, five years ago. Lois’ great-nephew, Randy Unterlaw, is arrested for both murders, but Emily doesn’t believe he’s guilty. Even though Randy had a reputation as a troublemaker in high school, she believes he’s turned his life around. Everyone tells her to be careful and stay out of the investigation, but Emily can’t help but investigate and finds herself in harm’s way.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

This is a good cozy mystery with interesting characters and a nice plotline. I didn’t connect with it but I think it’s just not what I was looking for. It’s not a bad book, it just wasn’t the right book for me.