It might be off season in Wildwood Cove, but with the Golden Oldies Games, sports events for those over 50, taking place Marley is busier than ever. Throw in the planning of her wedding, she doesn't have a lot of time on her hands. There is media in town along with athletes and their families along with their coaches and there are a lot of extra people around. When the husband of one of the athletes is washed overboard on his yacht and sports reporter, Yvonne Pritchard washes ashore having been killed, Marley once again fits in some investigating into her already busy schedule.

I always enjoy a visit to Wildwood Cove. I enjoy this series, mainly due to the wonderful characters. Marley is a great protagonist who has a hard time turning anyone down when they ask for assistance. This time, one of her long-time regulars asks her to investigate the death of the reporter, who is a friend of his. With so many strangers in town, there are so many suspects. As Marley investigates, she finds that there are many people that Yvonne has alienated due to her writing, sometimes not always true, that there are a lot of people that had an issue with her. There were enough red herrings that kept me guessing. The plot was well-written and the mystery had me turning the pages quickly. I was not able to guess the culprit although as the reveal happened, I was able to look back and see some of the clues. The motive, was one that I had expected, but there was more to it than I had thought. Another great addition to the Pancake House Mystery.

Marley and the Pancake House gang are cooking up some delicious meals for the Golden Oldies athletes as well as preparing for Marley and Brett's upcoming beach wedding. With the influx of visitors and competitors, there is rarely an empty seat at least until the back to back deaths that couldn't possibly be related other than by location. Marley cannot help but ask questions although this time the pancake flipper is in the other hand when Sienna, one of her waitstaff wants to play Nancy Drew as well. Like the ones before it, this latest pancake house mystery kept me enthralled and entertained not to mention the pancake cravings. I cannot wait to make the Banana Nut Pancakes this weekend. The author does a great job of reminding the reader of how and why Marley feels and does the things she does so it is not necessary to have read the previous books to be able to follow the storyline or character development. You don't have to read the early books but after you have one, they are like the tempting pancake and crepe meals described in the stories, you are going to want more.

"Much Ado About Nutmeg" features pancake house owner Marley as she and her friends help with investigating the deaths of three people in her seaside community. The action occurs during the days of the Golden Oldies Games. Quite a few people serve as suspects in the death of a much-disliked newspaper reporter. Marley and her friends do a lot of observing and questioning as they seek answers that will help local law enforcement solve the crime. Jealousy, secrets, and hidden motives add to the intrigue of this novel.

Wildwood Cove sets the scene, and serves as a cozy seaside town backdrop for the story. Readers will find the characters likeable, with the exception of Yvonne, the reporter, who is easy to despise. This is a clean mystery novel, with no overt violence, intimacy, or swear words. It is not necessary to read the previous books in the series to understand this one. The only issue I had was trying to keep the many characters straight.

I received this book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Much Ado About Nutmeg
Pancake House Mystery, Book #6
Sarah Fox
5 Stars

Synopsis:

Wedding bells are in the air—along with the aroma of maple syrup—in the latest Pancake House Mystery. But a series of murders threatens to spoil everyone’s appetite. . .

Between tourist season, planning her beach wedding, and running her pancake house, the Flip Side, Marley McKinney is busier than ever. On top of that, one of her regulars is competing in Wildwood Cove’s Golden Oldies Games—a sporting event for athletes 50 and over—and Marley wants to cheer her on. Everything’s running as smooth as batter—until sports reporter Yvonne Pritchard stirs up a triple batch of trouble . . .

Yvonne has one admirer in town—Ed Herman—but she has many more enemies, from a disgruntled coach to an athlete she once shamed on social media. So when a body washes up on shore, and it’s no accident, it’s not a complete surprise Yvonne is the victim. And when Ed asks Marley to use her sleuthing skills to solve the crime, she’ll have to squeeze in time between squeezing into wedding dresses. Then a second victim turns up, and Marley will have to work at high speed to stop a killer from piling up bodies faster than she can whip up a tall stack . . .

Includes pancake recipes right from the Flip Side menu!

Praise for Sarah Fox’s Wine and Punishment

“Readers will cheer this brisk, literate addition to the world of small-town cozies.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Hits all the right notes—a unique setting, friends and family, an intriguing mystery, and even the promise of romance.”
—Sofie Ryan, New York Times bestselling author of the Second Chance Cat mysteries.

“Draws readers into the fold of suspects in Shady Creek and doesn’t let go until the culprit is uncovered. There are laugh-out-loud moments, hold-your-breath moments, and moments when you’ll think you have the mystery figured out, but the surprises keep coming!”
—USA Today bestselling author Amy M. Reade


Review:

The writing style flows smoothly and it defines the characters very clearly by their actions and words. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and she makes her words come alive in my mind.

The characters are well rounded and well developed. I like the way the staff at The Flip Side treat each other like family, they are much more than coworkers. I am liking Ivan more with each book I read, he is like a gentle giant.

I really enjoyed the Golden Oldies Games and the fact that older people can still be active and compete if they want to. People in real life should remember that.

The mysteries were well plotted and moved along at a steady pace. There were enough clues to sift through and suspects to consider and there were some red herrings thrown in just for fun. I was surprised at who the culprit was, which I think is great.

I would recommend this book. and series, to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. If you have not already checked these books out, what are you waiting for?

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Kensington Books, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Between preparing for her upcoming wedding and running her restaurant, one would think Marley had more than enough to do. The town has been invaded by senior citizens competing in the Golden Oldies games and things are hopping. But when two people die on the same night, one murdered and one by accidents, it does not seem coincidental. Marley, who cannot resist a puzzle, wants to find out the link and reveal the killer. It turns out the murder victim was a horrible piece of work and the suspects who might have reason to do her harm keeps growing and growing.
While Marley does not actively seek out dangerous situations, she does ask questions and before long the murderer wonders if she knows too much. Of course, this is going to lead to life threatening events. What is interesting with this series is Marley realizes the perils of what she does and why those who love her want her to stop. She of course doesn’t but when her young employee wants to do the same things, she is uber protective, not wanting to put her in harm’s way. The reader cannot say she is not self-aware.
I do like this series with its setting and characters and it always provides a good entertaining read. There is enough suspense without pitching into Darwin territory. Four purrs and two paws up.

This is the first book I read in this series and I found it engrossing and entertaining.
I liked the well thought cast of characters and I think that Marley is an excellent MC.
The mystery is solid, full of red herrings and twists, and kept me guessing till the end. The solution came as a surprise.
I will surely read other instalment in this series.
One note: I was able to understand the title but it's just a curiosity.
Recommended.
Many thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This was a fun installment in the Pancake House Mysteries. The story was good and kept me guessing until the end. I also enjoy Marly as a character - she is interesting and thoughtful and doesn't make poor choices like we sometimes see in other books. I also enjoy her relationship with Brett, as it is kept as a regular part of the story and not pushed to the side when Marly is working through the mystery.

Another solid addition to the Pancake House Mysteries. This one finds Marley McKinnon in the throes of wedding planning while Wildwood Cove is paced with tourists for the Golden Oldie Games. Business is booming at the Flip Side when a dead body washes up on shore and one of her regulars asks her to investigate who murdered Yvonne. Marley quickly learns Yvonne was not a nice woman and the list of suspects is jam packed. Relationships between the main characters are well depicted. While I would be surprised if anyone would guess the killer, it was still a reasonable solution. Good series.

Wildwood Cove is hosting the Golden Oldies Games (think Special Olympics for Seniors) but before the competition has started, one of the tennis players has been eliminated - permanently. Then a not so nice Sports reporter isa found dead. Marley from the Flip Side pancake house had met the tennis player and his wife and also seen and heard the reporter so she thinks that she'll try to figure out what happened to both.

I love the characters and the setting but this plot left a bit to be desired IMO.

Summer has arrived on the Pacific Northwest coast and the beach town of Wildwood Cove is packed with tourists and people 50 and older who are participating in the Golden Oldies Games. Marley has her hands full running her pancake house, The Flip Side and putting the finishing touches on her wedding, coming up within weeks. Cutting it a bit close, she has just bought her wedding dress online and she hasn't made arrangements for the flowers and Brett, her fiance, is working on constructing the arbor for their back yard/beach wedding. As the story progresses it turns out that more than one of her friends wants to help make her day special, starting with her wedding cake. things are going well in her life until, just as the games start, two deaths occur. One is the very unlikable woman sports reporter who has been using Marley's friend and he has no clue that all she wants is the free meals she gets from him. He's totally smitten and, when she turns up dead, he turns to Marley for some help. The local police, in the form of her fiance's Uncle, take a dim view of her getting involved but know that she will be involved in some fashion no matter how much they try to stop her. Plus, she's snooped before and helped solve the cases so what's one more? Well, maybe a couple or so? Murder, drowning - are they connected? And who in town (the list is very long) wanted any of these folks dead?
I enjoyed the setting and the main characters, happy that I was only reading about eating at the Flip Side and not actually being there. Pancakes and waffles, oh my! I'd be there every day leading to both my budget and my belt totally busted. There were lots of red herrings and some twists, especially the ending. When the mystery began it was on the slow side but it picked up and ran to a very good finish. A very good satisfying puzzle.
My thanks to the publisher Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Much Ado About Nutmeg earns 5/5 Golden Oldies...Engaging Entertainment!

Ready! Set! Go for the Golden! Sarah Fox and her Pancake House Mystery are both big favorites. The Golden Oldies Games, a statewide sporting event for athletes fifty and over, is coming to Wildwood Cove, and everyone is anticipating crowds of athletes, coaches, and spectators. Even Marley is adding tables at The Flip Side, her pancake house, to meet the demand for tasty carbs like pancakes and crêpes. But along with competitors and spectators, there’s the media and ingratiating herself is Yvonne Pritchard, a sports reporter who has captured the attention of Ed Herman, a regular at The Flip Side and, important to note, twenty years her senior. Marley is angry overhearing Yvonne’s comment about Ed and seemingly to brag, “I figure it’s worth putting up with him for a few days since he likes to pay for my meals.” But it’s not just Ed who might be harmed by this shallow woman, she has plenty of disgruntled acquaintances in her past and an angry face off with one of the regular athletes is played out in full view. Bad to worse, reports come in that one male competitor is missing, possibly fallen overboard into the bay, but the body found on the rocks is not a man...it is Yvonne!

I am greatly entertained by Sarah Fox’s writing style with expressive dialogue and descriptive language making this mystery an engaging page-turner that kept me guessing. With an extra murder, I couldn’t put it down; my inner Sherlock was spinning with clues going one way, suspects revealed, then more, and a u-turn leading to a “What?!” conclusion. I loved it! The characters are my main draw: well defined, developing well through this six-book series, responding and acting realistically in the face of an everyday busy life and extraordinary events like murder. Through their actions and words it’s easy to determine their personalities: admirable, helpful, quirky, good, and not-so-good. Along with the murder mystery, Marley is running a popular business, available as a friend to others, and planning her wedding in which the whole town seems to be engaged. BONUS! Sarah always adds wonderful recipes and being straight from The Flip Side’s kitchen is a nice connection: Belgian Waffles with Strawberry Syrup Strawberry Syrup, Apple Cinnamon Scones with Maple Glaze, and Banana Nut Pancakes. Also enjoy a peek at An Ale of Two Cities, book two in her Literary Pub Mystery series, for which I give high praise!

This is the Sixth release in the "Pancake House Mystery" Series by cozy author Sarah Fox. I have read the entire series and highly recommend the series for your reading enjoyment. This is a wonderful addition to the series.
Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley. My review opinions are my own, . I like the protagnist Marley as a smart creative investigator and someone we would all want to be friends with. I love that the author includes pancake receipes many of which I have tried and always loved.

Marley McKinney Is busy running her highly popular pancake and breakfast cafe and planning her perfect beach wedding. She has a regular customer who wants to participate in a "Golden Oldies" event. When a reporter turns up dead Marley has to step in to investigate to save her friend and find out what really happened. She finds the reporter was not well liked and soon suspects abound and the clues are varied as the suspects grow. Marley has her hands full as she works hard in her restaurant daily and has found her wedding planning to not be going as planned.

I loved this next in series. Marley is a endearing charcter to this reader and I enjoy that she takes her business seriously and actually works hard daily alongside her employees. She is driven to find out the truth of the murder and has clever skills and is personable. Her fiance is not a favorite of mine but that does not deter from my enjoyment of reading this fun series. I look forward to the next in series.

“Much Ado about Nutmeg” by Sarah Fox is the 6th instalment in the “A Pancake House Mystery” series. This was the second book I have read in the series and I thoroughly enjoy them and have the complete series in my TBR.

Marley, the protagonist, is the owner of The Flip Side pancake house in Wildwood Cove, Washington. Currently she is dealing with tourist season and planning her beach wedding which is in 4 weeks time. The Golden Oldies Senior games is in town and it’s extra busy, but when a man drowns and a nasty sports reporter goes missing Marley is itchin to investigate ...

The characters are well-developed. The mystery had just enough suspects, red herrings, and twists and turns to keep you guessing till the end. I found it to be a fun fast read.

Includes pancake recipes right from The Flip Side menu!

I enjoyed this book and recommend to my friends.

I requested and received an Advanced Reader Copy from Netgalley and Kensington books. All thoughts and opinions are my OWN.

My confusion with the title of the book was offset completely with the delightful story in the latest Pancake House Mystery by Sarah Fox. I don't recall any mention of nutmeg, but the book was filled with joy and positiveness mixed with a great, keep you guessing until the end mystery. It was the perfect mix. I look forward to the fun of more with a now married Marley.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Marley is busy running her pancake house, preparing for her wedding and dealing with an influx of business while the Golden Oldies Games are in town. But when a visiting reporter with a lot of enemies is found murdered, Marley begins investigating.

Much Ado about Nutmeg is the sixth book in a series, but can be read as a stand-alone novel. The story was fine, but the characters were not interesting enough for me to want to go back and read the other five books in this series. It’s a good Cozy Mystery, but not exceptional. Three and a half stars, rounded up to four.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley. My review is voluntary.

I enjoyed the slightly-more-complicated-than-usual plot in this entry in the Pancake House series I always like these mysteries, and this one was no exception. It's so refreshing when there's an upcoming wedding in a book, and that wedding does not overpower everything else in the story. It's also nice when a main character has a regular, adult, fully functioning relationship. I hate it when relationship drama derails a good mystery.

This is always a highly readable series, and once I pick up a book, I kind of just want to immerse myself in this beachside world and stay there until I completely finish the book. Sometimes I want to stay in that world even once I'm done with the book! Great characters, lovely setting, and a charm and humor to the series keep bringing me back.

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The usual cast of characters plus an influx of seniors and not so senior sports competitors. More than one body in this murder mystery. It kept me guessing and surprised me. This is a charming and delightful series with this book ending in a wedding on the beach.

Marley and Brett are a month from their wedding when the Golden Oldies Games comes to Wildwood Cove. Marley meets a whole slew of mature adults in town for the games. One couple Easton and Rowena are very much in love and planning to play couples tennis. Ed, a local, makes friends with Yvonne, a reporter in town for the games. Easton disappears off his yacht but is body isn’t found right away. Then Ivan and Lisa find a body on the beach, but it’s Yvonne not Easton. Now Ray, sheriff, has a murder to solve. Marley can’t help but ask questions. Truthfully, it came off as an obsessive-compulsive type behavior in this book. There are lots of suspects and the field doesn’t narrow much before another murder occurs.
I think this was the most dead bodies yet for the Pancake House Mystery series. The actual murderer was a surprise to Marley and me.
I love Marley and Brett’s relationship and the friendships with other characters. This is a nice town to visit and fun stories. But I’m not sure what to think about the way Marley seems compelled to investigate and put her life in danger every book.
Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington for the opportunity to review Much Ado About Nutmeg.

Much Ado about Nutmeg by Sarah Fox is book six in the A Pancake House Mystery series. This was the first one I have read and I'm glad I read this easy to read Cozy.
Marley, the protagonist, is the owner of The Flip Side pancake house in Wildwood Cove, Currently she is dealing with tourist season and planning her beach wedding,. then throw in the Golden Oldies Senior games the town is hosting. Even though, she is busy, she is starting to pick up vibes on one of the reporters in town to report on the games. Is she a nice person or a cut throat reporter. One of her regulars seems to be smitten with the reporter. but Marley can't shake the bad feeling she has.
When the reporter washes up on shore, dead from a stab wound, Ed becomes a suspect but Marley knows he couldn't have been him. Then he asks her to investigate on her own. Marley can't tell him no but will she regret helping him. Then when the bodies start adding up, Marley wonders if she will be next.
Fox gives plenty of suspects, likeable characters, great setting, humor, romance, friendship, family and adorable pets. You will be kept guessing until the end.
I was given an eARC by NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.

Much Ado About Nothing is the 6th book in the Pancake House Mystery series by Sarah Fox. This is a fun series, guaranteed to make you crave pancakes, and is a favorite of mine, this book could be read as a stand alone should you choose to do so, but I suggest reading it as a series, for maximum enjoyment.
The mystery, as always, is well plotted, and has a plethora of characters to keep you guessing until the climatic reveal (which completely shocked me!)

One of my favorite parts about this book, was actually the sub story, I loved reading all the details of Marley and Rhett's wedding planning, so I am already super excited to read the next book.

I want to give a huge thank you to Kensington and Netgalley for an eARC copy of this book, all opinions are my own.