Scones and Scofflaws by Jane Gorman

This was a well written book part of Cozy Cafe Mystery series and all very good reads n their own right and stand alone books. This didn’t disappoint.

A quaint seaside town with many colourful characters that just draw you in . Mystery romance and intrigue and of course humour all go to make a wonderful read.

I did enjoy this Ms Gorman keeps you guessing right to the end well done.

Gorman paints a vivid picture of the quaint seaside town and its colorful inhabitants. Anna's background as a medical anthropologist adds a unique layer to her character, lending her an astute perspective and adaptability to unexpected situations. However, this murder investigation challenges her like never before. Guided by her determination and resourcefulness, Anna enlists the help of a handsome and eager handyman, as well as a young police officer new to murder cases, to uncover the truth and clear her name.

The author skillfully combines elements of mystery and romance, creating a lighthearted yet intriguing narrative. Readers will find themselves engrossed in the intricate plot, eagerly following Anna's every move as she navigates the twists and turns of the investigation. Gorman injects the story with a delightful sense of humor and a cast of well-developed characters, each with their own secrets and motives.

One of the novel's strengths lies in Gorman's ability to keep readers guessing until the very end. Clues are cleverly scattered throughout the narrative, allowing armchair detectives to form their own theories and speculate on the identity of the culprit. The pacing is well-maintained, with suspenseful moments expertly interspersed with heartwarming interactions and unexpected discoveries.

Scones and Scofflaws is a delightful addition to the mystery genre, offering a captivating blend of romance, suspense, and humor. Jane Gorman's engaging writing style and knack for crafting compelling characters make this book a joy to read. Whether you're a fan of cozy mysteries or simply seeking an entertaining and satisfying tale, this book is sure to leave you craving more.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. A great cozy mystery.Really interesting and easy to read

I didn’t quite know what to expect from this one, but I found the humor to be light and fun! The mystery was compelling and I’m not sure if I’m just dense but I did NOT figure it out lol. Sometimes a cozy mystery with a side of romance is just what the doctor ordered.

I’m not quite sure what cape living entails and I’ve literally never been but it’s honestly the dream. Pray I marry rich.

Luke was cute and right from the beginning there’s that obvious ✨tension✨ between the two. I kept picturing Lucas Till from The Hannah Montana Movie. You’re welcome. I’m also a huge sucker for kids in romances and this fit the bill nicely. Anna wasn’t bumbling and incompetent, which can be too much in some of these cozy mysteries.

Scones and Scofflaws: A Cape May Mystery with a Twist by Jane Gorman is not your typical cozy mystery! Anna McGregor is not your usual grandmother, she's in her thirties. Yes, there is a B&B, her Cape May Victorian inherited from her deceased Great Aunt Louise. She's been remodeling and updating her childhood memories. There is a death to kick-off Anna's tale . Small town gossip is running rampant. There's a handful of quirky characters --her 8 year old Irish nephew who's having a summer of his life with Aunt Anna and her various friends and encounters; her sexy handyman, new policeman who actually believes Anna's innocence; how about her high school female friend who owns and operates a bakery up the coast. So was the death natural or intentional?
I highly recommend this cozy mystery with a twist, or should be 'twists'. This is a different subject for Jane Gorman, a nice change.

Unfortunately I didn’t love this book. The story seemed original and interesting at first, but I admit I skimmed most of it to figure out what happened. The writing and “reveal” fell flat for me. I didn’t relate to the main character or feel any connection to the other characters and the dialogue felt repetitive and unnecessary at times.

Such a great book for the genre. Another favorite by a great author. The plot of the story was very well written. The author really draws the reader in as you read. I felt like I was an unnamed character in the story.

Scones and Scofflaws is the first book in the Cape May Cozy Mystery series and I think I am going to be in the minority here for not liking it as much as others have. The MC Anna MacGregor is a medical anthropologist who has built a career on doing solid research and asking the right questions but for some reason she spends her time doing the exact opposite when she decides to investigate the death of one of her B&B visitor, George Hedley, who she finds dead at the breakfast table apparently after having consumed her scones. Plus, I am aware that in cosy mysteries police presence is mostly secondary but here it is almost non-existent except for a few appearances by patrolman Evan who looks to become one of Anna's potential romantic interests. Quite a few characters are introduced who are somehow connected to each other and to the deceased character but end up playing no major part in the story and the plotline seems to be all over the place. Eoin, Anna's eight year old cousin who comes to spend the summer with her from Scotland is adorable and I feel he should get a bigger role to play in the subsequent books.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Blue Eagle Press and the author for the e-Arc of the book.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Scones and Scofflaws by Jane Gorman is the 1st book in the Cape May Cozy Mysteries with a Twist, and my first book by this author. This cozy mystery has plenty of twists and turns, and it is so much fun. I can't wait to read the next book in the series. I highly recommend this book for people who enjoy cozy mysteries.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Gossip gets the killer

Anne inherits a bed and breakfast from her aunt. She gets it up and going, however, her first guest , George Hedley, dies at the breakfast table.

With the help of her nephew Eoin, her friend Sammy, and the good looking cop Evan they try to find the killer.

They meet Jason the lifeguard at a bar, Luke is the gorgeous handyman, Paul is George's Partner, Richard is the former owner of the business George bought. Then you have the angry wife, Catherine Hedley. As Anne wishes to find the killer so people won't be afraid to stay at her bed and breakfast, Anne and Sammy do their own sleuthing

Who is the killer? Will they find the killer before someone else is killed? Is Anne and Eoin in danger?

This is a fun whodunit for a nice afternoon read. I enjoyed the book and I recommend it.

Thanks to Jane Gorman, Blue Eagle Press, and NetGalley for allowing me read a copy of the book for an honest review.

Scones & Scofflaws was a good start to a cosy mystery series. Great characters, fantastic setting and a wonderful story which seemed to focus on the mystery.

Good start to a cozy series. I liked the main character and always love settings at the Jersey shore. It was refreshing to find an amateur sleuth who was an amateur and had to find her footing to figure out how to clear her name - she wasn't sure what questions to ask and who to ask them of. It's also nice to see that the people she interrogated "fought back". I did feel there were a few too many pages of her hemming and hawing about her decisions but I will read the next one in the series because I really enjoyed the main character and her cousin.

I received a copy from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

#SconesandScofflaws #NetGalley

A solid mystery set in a charming town with a determined young bed and breakfast owner who isn’t going to let a little thing like a dead guest ruin her new business. I enjoyed Anna McGregor. She’s smart, a little scarred from a bad relationship which also ruined her chosen career, and determined. But she isn’t too stupid to live. She doesn’t take needless risks, she actually talks to the police even though they don’t take her serious before she tries to catch the killer and she doesn’t do it alone! It doesn’t quite work out the way she thought but she took the right steps.

This cozy actually spent a lot of time on the mystery: looking for motives and opportunities and using deduction to come up with a culprit. Anna didn’t stumble across the culprit by chance and she didn’t come up with the answer by spending a few minutes sleuthing. It took work and she had help.

Another strong thing in this book is the relationship Anna has with some of the characters. Her best friend provides some laughs and has her back during both emotional and social difficulties. Eoin, her small cousin, is precocious and cute. Plus a really cute cat.

Enjoyable. I would read more of this series. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of an ARC in return for a honest review.

A great easy read!
Anna the protagonist inherits a Victorian mansion from her Great Aunt , she renovates the property and opens up a B&B.
On the opening of the guest house one of the visitors dies at the breakfast table. His death is caused by poisoning , so the finger points at Anna. Therefore she begins her own investigation in order to clear her name and get the guest house back on track.

I found the writing easy to read and the characters amiable and and it is a great start to a new cozy mystery series. I look forwarding to reading the next book. In the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Blue Eagle Press for this arc copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blue Eagle Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange of an honest review.


Couldn't keep it down!!! I love mystery book and this one did not disappoint! We follow Anna, a PhD student who decided to open her B&B after she inherits her aunt's home! When her first guest at the B&B drops dead, she has no choice but to get to the bottom of the mystery and find out what really happened.

This was a fun read, super enjoyable, I loved the characters and the resolution! I am super interested on the next books of the series!

Anna inherited a Victorian that she plans to remodel into a B&B. Then the body appeared. This story was very intriguing.. and I read it in one sitting. The characters are realistic. The story was fun to read. I recommend it.

"When a gorgeous man dressed as Bridgette Bardot buys her a Scofflaw and asks her out on a date, Anna McGregor begins to suspect her murder investigation has taken a wrong turn. Her previous work as a medical anthropologist exposed her to a variety of unexpected situations, but none quite like this.

It all seemed so simple: fix up the Cape May Victorian mansion she’d inherited from Great Aunt Louise and re-open it as the exceptional B and B it used to be. Everything’s going great, until her very first guest turns up dead at the breakfast table, crumbs from Anna’s blueberry scones scattered on the lace tablecloth.

As the town’s gossip mill goes into overdrive, Anna leaps into the fray to save her reputation, her business and Great Aunt Louise’s legacy.

With help from a handsome handyman eager to solve all of Anna’s problems and a young police officer new to murder investigations, Anna does her best to convince the town - and her future guests - that while her scones may be killer, someone else was responsible for this murder."

I was sold at Bridgette Bardot.

This is the excellent start for a new cozy series and I liked the heroine, a clever and interesting character, and the solid mystery full of twists turns.
It could have a 5* unfortunately it features two of my cozy mystery pet peeves: the infamous love triangle and the heroine trying to frame the culprit alone and risking her life.
It's a series full of potential and I hope Anna will be wiser in the next installment and there will be no love triangle.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The first in a new cozy mystery series set in Cape May New Jersey. Anna has inherited an old Victorian house from her Great Aunt and has put a lot of effort into reopening it as a B&B.

One of her first guests dies at breakfast and when it is discovered he was poisoned, fingers are pointed at the blueberry scones he ate. That leads to bad press for the B&B and cancellations from future guests and the feeling that Anna has accidently poisoned her guest. Anna has everything tied up into the B&B and feels she needs to do some investigating to help get the case resolved as soon as possible to save her business.

I was a bit conflicted about Anna, I thought she had some TSTL moments where she was a bit too brash with her questions and investigating and hadn't learned to navigate the small town dynamics which alienated a host of people. And her set up of letting the murderer know she was on to her was over the top. Anna had no problems pointing out other suspects to the police, why she had to go about it the way she did....but it did lead to further drama.

I did enjoy this book and read it through on one setting. Looking forward to reading future installments.

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I requested this book from #Netgalley because I like the name. What can I say, I enjoy alliteration!
My impression of this book was that it focuses more on the mystery than on the cozy town itself. We do hear about the beach and meet some townfolk, but we stick with Anna who is focused on finding whodunit and why.

I thought that the method of murder was clever and unique. I appreciated how the clues connected to Anna's life experiences and to her dealings with the town, in other words, scenes were not wasted, everything meant something.

I didn't figure out who the killer was before Anna; but, that person was my #1 suspect so I was glad I was right! I appreciated that Jane Gorman chose to have a villain who was just a terrible person and didn't rely on saying the killer was 'crazy'. Additionally, Ms. Groman doesn't rely on killing additional people to raise the stakes for our sleuth, which makes it a more plausible story overall.

This is a plot-driven book and at times I felt like I would like to get to know Anna better, I hope that in the next book there might be more time to get to know her via maybe some light comedy scenes with her and Sammy or Luke.

Throughout the book, Anna reminds herself that she isn't a damsel in distress which is nice to read. I enjoyed reading about her background in anthropology. I am left wondering about her cousin Eoin (a modern-day Harriet the Spy). I'd like to know more about how Eoin came to be with her for months, I hope we find out more about that in the next book.

Overall this book is a solid mystery that comes together nicely. The title of the book comes into play in the actual story which is a nice bonus!