A Garden Tour/Book Signing Turns Deadly
The Uninvited Corpse is the debut novel in Debra Sennefelder’s Food Blogger Mysteries series and is an enjoyable read. I had a little trouble getting into this book and understanding the characters and their relationships in the beginning, but once it all fell together for me I didn’t want to put the book down. The characters are relatable and the storyline is well plotted, with an interesting mystery, plenty of suspects, and some twists and turns that kept me engaged. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Hope Early recently moved back to her hometown of Jefferson, Connecticut, is renovating the home she purchased, has chickens, and is a lifestyle and food blogger. Her blog, Hope At Home, has become quite successful. Her older sister, Claire Dixon, is a real estate agent and lives in Jefferson with her husband and two children. Hope and Claire are attending a garden tour and book signing at Audrey Bloom’s home. Hope is picking up stray luncheon items when she enters the study and discovers the body of Peaches McCoy, a local real estate agent. Peaches wasn’t an invited guest and there had been some speculation as to why she was there. Hope has always been able to figure out whodunit in mystery books and her friend, Jane Merrifield, a retired mystery author, encourages her to investigate. When Hope finds a second body, she wonders if the murders are related. Chief of Police Ethan Cahill doesn’t believe Clair is guilty, but Detective Reid does and because the evidence leads to her, she’s arrested. Claire and the authorities try to discourage Hope from investigating, but she is determined to clear her sister’s name.

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

I am still new to the Cozy Mystery genre, This one is a first in a series. The Uninvited Corpse, was well written with enjoyable characters. I really liked the who do it feel, like I was always guessing, was never right. The plot was entertaining and overall I liked the story. I would say I loved it. It about a food blogger, who attends a spring garden tour but she stumbles across something she was most defiantly not prepared for, lol She finds McCoy dead. And from there on you go on an adventure to discover who did it.

In THE UNINVITED CORPSE by Debra Sennefelder (first in the Food Blogger Mystery series), Hope Early has recently left New York City in the dust following an ugly divorce, an embarrassing appearance on a reality baking show, and her failed career as a magazine editor. After returning to her small hometown of Jefferson, Connecticut, Hope starts her life over as a blogger focusing on food and DIY projects. Hope also (literally) stumbles upon two dead bodies...The first is an unpopular real estate agent who was murdered after showing up uninvited at a spring garden tour at Hope's friend's house. Hope's sister, Claire, jumps to the top of the local detective's suspect list because Claire worked with the victim and had a history of not getting along with her. The second victim is Hope's very own assistant. She was murdered in her home mere minutes after calling Hope to tell her that she was pretty sure she had figured out who had killed the first victim. Because Hope knew both victims - and because her sister is the only suspect that the police seem to be focused on - Hope throws herself into conducting her own investigation into the murders. Hope's life is soon in danger, and someone (most likely the murderer) is now out to kill her. The police - including the Chief of Police, who is Hope's long-time friend - keep warning her to stay away from their investigation and stop trying to solve it on her own. Even if it places her in danger, Hope refuses to stop until she finds the killer and clears her sister.

THE UNINVITED CORPSE will be published by Kensington on March 27, 2018. It is a fun and intriguing cozy mystery novel. Sennefelder kept me guessing up until the end on the identity of the killer. Hope Early is a well-developed, captivating, and likeable amateur sleuth. Hope also had some very witty lines that had me laughing - especially when she said "I'm going to find the killer, prove my sister is innocent, and then I think I'll make a pan of brownies." Hope's baking, home projects, and budding romantic feelings for a certain someone perfectly balance out her investigation into the two murders. The other characters are also interesting as well. I particularly enjoyed former mystery writer Jane and local reporter Drew. I also felt that the small town of Jefferson was very well described. The small town drama and squabbles was very true-to-life. I'm looking forward to the next novel in the Food Blogger Mystery series.

The Uninvited Corpse is one of a handful of books that I could hardly wait to read - based solely on the title and cover art - and it did not disappoint! After her divorce and her stint on a reality cooking show, food blogger Hope Early has returned home to northwestern Connecticut where she spends her days working on her blog, feeding her chickens, and renovating her farmhouse. Her idyllic life is thrown into turmoil when her sister Claire's rival real estate agent, Peaches McCoy (the aforementioned uninvited corpse in the title), is found murdered at a garden party they were all attending. Fast forward to another murder close to home for Hope, and backwards to one in the past, and Hope has her hands full trying to clear her sister's name and save her own life after someone tries to kill her, too! Interesting characters abound, and there're more than one potential love interest for our heroine, plus author Debra Sennefelder has included several very yummy sounding recipes featured in the book! A+ to this debut effort!

I always like to start a new series at the beginning, and this was a great opportunity to do so.

Hope is a great character, a food blogger, which gives us insight into what it's like to blog for a living. The author does a great job giving readers a behind the scenes look.

The mystery starts off strong (although the scene before the body drops was a bit long and introduced us to a lot of characters at once), and I really liked how Hope's relationship with her sister Claire feels so realistic. I think we could have done without everyone telling Hope that she will make a great detective because she used to solve the book club mysteries, though :-) Her sister Claire being a suspect is plenty of motivation, I would say.

The mystery is great, the characters vivid, and I had the pages turning and me staying up entirely too late to finish this book. A great start to a promising new cozy mystery series, especially if you like a dash of romance. Hope is a great character to stick around with.

**NetGalley e-book provded for review**

Hope Early is a food blogger in Jefferson, Connecticut. Having been the runner up in cooking show she has a small level of notoriety in the foodie world and is working hard to establish her blog and brand. When invited to a garden tour for a book signing at Audrey Bloom’s house, she and her sister arrive to find local realtor Peaches McCoy has crashed the party, which is typical for her personality of stirring up trouble and pushing the envelope. When Hope finds the body of Peaches and her sister Claire is the prime suspect, she needs to add solving a murder to her already burgeoning list of things to do.

The book was an engaging read with well developed characters and a plot that kept me turning page after page to find out who had done it.

The first book in the new Food Blogger Mysteries, this promises to be a great new series!

At the beginning of the book it seemed as if I should know who all the characters were and I felt like I was missing something, even though it was billed as the first book in a series. Once I sorted the characters out things picked up. Hope is a multi-layered and likeable character. I enjoyed the foray into life in Connecticut, the surprising mystery and the hint of romance. Now I have a clear understanding I look forward to more in the series.

I received a free copy of The Uninvited Corpse by Debra Sennefelder through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Hope Early, lifestyle and food blogger, has moved back to her tiny hometown in an effort to re-establish herself following a series of professional and personal failures. When she attends a local garden party, she discovers the body of the most hated woman in town. Her mentor, friends, and acquaintances pressure her to investigate, and she does once the inept detective begins to build his case against Hope’s sister Claire, who was a business rival of the woman.

Standard fare.

#TheUninvitedCorpse #NetGalley

I read The Uninvited Corpse Sunday, this is a new cozy mystery from Debra Sennefelder and I so enjoyed it. Loved the cover, that perfectly portrayed the mystery within. This was a good read, really well done and in away I did not expect. I loved the way the mystery unfolded, the way the characters worked together and against each other. I love a story with Chickens too. I could easily relate with main character Hope, who is a blogger, sister and friend as well as a great baker and who is loyal to a fault! Loved her so much and I cannot wait to read the next one. A great mystery, great story and so much I want to say but it would give too much away. Great start to a new series. Can't wait to try the recipes!

This was a good first book. Interesting characters and relationships and a solid plot.

Interesting idea for a series based on a food blogger. Fun and decently written with a tad of confusion at the beginning with the characters, but sorted out in the end.

The Uninvited Corpse by Debra Sennefelder is a first in a new series that is sure to be a winner.
Hope Early is a wonderful character and she is very easy to like.
Hope is a blogger who whips up some delicious treats in this cozy mystery.

As we all know, there is always a victim in a cozy and this one is no different.
Finding the body was horrible for Hope, but even worse is watching her sister being accused of this awful crime.

Hope does everything in her power to find the truth, alienating her friends, going against the local police, and finding herself a victim as well.

I loved the other characters that joined Hope. Jane, a retired mystery author certainly stirs the plot and her sidekick Sally was entertaining as well.
I was able to figure it out at the end, but the author had me second guessing myself quite often.

Mystery fans will want to put The Uninvited Corpse at the top of their TBR pile.
I voluntarily read an ARC of this book provided by the publisher and NetGalley.

The Uninvited Corpse by Debra Sennefelder was an interesting introduction to a new cozy series. I say interesting because the book introduced the reader to several characters at the beginning which made it slightly confusing for me. Although many of the characters were better defined later in the book, I found their initial reactions and interactions confusing and only later did I understand them.
Hope is a strong female who has reinvented herself after moving back home to Jefferson. I liked her drive and creativity as she begins life anew. Her sister, Claire, was a hard person for me to like as she seemed very self-absorbed. The descriptive writing did well in introducing the reader to the town of Jefferson and the residents. I'm sure that many of the characters will become more developed as this series progresses. The plot was smoothly paced and there were several suspects, twists and turns, and ambiguous clues to keep me guessing until the reveal.

I can't recommend this book unfortunately. I was confused in parts of the book about conversations which didn't make sense, rambling descriptions of the scenery (which is the only well-described scenes) and two-dimensional characters that were very hard to figure out who was who & where they fit into the story. A one point the main character, Hope Early, thinks that all the pieces are there but then that a few pieces are missing. Mostly I didn't find that any clues were being uncovered until the very end of the book & that was directly followed by the killer confessing.

I thought the book had great promise in it's concept & hopefully the future books will develop and improve. I was given the opportunity to review an ARC of this book for NetGalley and the publisher.

Hope Early leaves behind a failed marriage, a failed career, and a failed reality show appearance to return to her home town of Jefferson, Connecticut. She has begun to finally build a new career as a blogger, but when she finds the body in the study, a ‘la Miss Marple, her whole world is threatened as her sister become prime suspect number one.

This was a tough book to rate for me. The author was very good at setting the reader in the fictional world of Jefferson, and I like the possible relationships starting to bloom. I found myself confused, however, by the characters that were thrown in all at the same time. It was difficult for me to keep them straight. I like Hope and feel that as the character gets fleshed out and more focus is given to her new world of country living and blogging I will appreciate it more, but in this first book I really just wanted to get to the end to find out who the murderer was. I debated between three and four stars, but I am generally a tough critic, and didn’t feel I could lump this in with other books I have given four stars to, so a three-star it is for me. I truly do, however, look forward to the next book in this series. I was given the opportunity to review an ARC of this book for NetGalley and the publisher.

This is a first in a new series, and it is off to a winning start!
I enjoyed the characters, who were written vividly and full of personality.
The premise and setting were also entertaining.
The whodunit was well written and kept me guessing (I was unsuccessful in guessing the culprit I have to admit).
I look forward to reading the next in the series!
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed this cozy mystery, it was fun and well written.
I would definetly read the next book in the series.

I love the name of the fictional blog, Hope at Home, that the main character Hope Early manages in this book. I love picking up the first in a new series of cozy mysteries and being introduced to a whole new set of interesting characters. I love finding a new author to follow. So, I was very pleased with, The Uninvited Corpse by Debra Sennefelder. The Food Blogger Mystery series is set in a scenic New England town and revolves around Hope’s busy life testing out recipes, gathering helpful household hints and preparing enticing blog entries. Sounds, pleasant, right? It is pleasant, but it certainly is anything but boring! The lifeless body of a decidedly unpleasant real estate agent is found during a garden tour and Hope’s very own sister, Claire, is a suspect. Hope is compelled to track down the real murderer before her sister lands in jail. This is an entertaining read. I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy provided to me by the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my rating. I have provided an unbiased and honest review.