A cute cozy mystery. Love the title Deputy Donut, which is the cats name . Set in a cafe great book and great series. Recommend reading it

This was the 5th installment of the Deputy Donut Mysteries and I did not read any prior to this book which did not make a difference in my opinion. The characters were all likable. Emily who was a widow owning a donut shop with her father in law just added a little more sweetness to the story. The other characters which I got invested in since I am in the medical profession was icing on the donut. I am very interested to read more from this series as it was a quick paced book.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found this book incredibly interesting the author really kept me hooked until the end. very well written I highly recommend.

A Deputy Donut Mystery Book 5

Nina and Emily attend The Faker’s Dozen Carnival as vendors for The Deputy Donut shop. While there a Magician and a mime distract everyone so the magician can steal money from the till. Nina chases them down but doesn’t catch them. Later that night Emily finds the mime mortally wounded inside Nina’s apartment. Was Nina the intended target?

This was also a perfect cozy mystery read! The characters were full of personality, the clues kept you wondering how they fit together, and there are recipes at the end of the book! I would highly recommend these books to cozy mystery lovers!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Bolton's Deputy Dougnut should be on every a cozy mystery lovers reading list. Where the Dougnut Shop is as cute as any bakery and the cat has his own office.

Emily is a well-written, well-developed, and relatable character who is still adjusting to widowhood. The author does a great job of giving us characters that each have their own individualized personality traits all of whom are pertinent to the story line of the book. Readers can follow the clues and make their own assumptions about which of the possible suspects is the killer before the author does her big reveal. Suspense builds and leads up to an exciting climactic scene. Anyone who owns cats or dogs will not only relate to the bond people experience with their animals but also their antics. Recipes from edibles woven into the story are included at the end.

One of my favorites series. I love the writing style and characters. It’s a quick, fun, read. I enjoyed the book and will recommend it to others.

Beyond a Reasonable Donut and Deck the Donuts by Ginger Bolton are the fifth and sixth books in the cozy Deputy Donut Mystery series. As with most cozy mystery series each book of this series can be enjoyed as a standalone or in any order with the mystery being completely solved within each book. Of course there is some character building that carries over from book to book for those that follow the series from the beginning.

In the first book of this series we met Emily Westhill who co-owns the Deputy Donut donut shop named after her tabby cat in small-town Fallingbrook, Wisconsin. Emily used to work as a 911 dispatcher until the day her husband who was a police officer was killed so now she and her retired police chief father-in-law sell donuts at their shop instead. Although Emily thought opening a donut shop would be safe she keeps finding herself mixed up in solving murders.

In Beyond a Reasonable Donut Emily is excited to participate in the Faker’s Dozen Carnival where she and her assistant Nina have a Deputy Donut tent set up. Who knew there would be so much bad luck at a carnival celebrating bad luck but when a mime is found murdered and Nina is a suspect Emily jumps in to find the real killer. Then in Deck the Donuts again Emily has to chase down another murderer when at the annual Ice and Lights Festival a tour bus crashes sending the driver to the hospital. As the accident is investigated the driver manages to leave the hospital only to end up a victim buried beneath Emily’s Frosty the Donut.

The Deputy Donut mystery series is another that I have followed from the beginning never missing the next installment. This one fits right into my quirky and humorous favorites although not quite as quirky as some. This series does have the bonus of the main character having such close ties to law enforcement making her sleuthing a bit more believable even if she isn’t a police officer herself though. With fun characters and enough donut talk to make me wipe the drool I’ll keep looking forward to more in this series.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Emily is selling fritters at the carnival downtown. Some weird things are going on with the Deputy Donut booth though. There is a magician and a mime that steal from the till! When Emily finds the mime dead in her assistant's loft later on that night, suspicions are flying.

I really love this series! I love Emily and all the characters in Fallingbrook. This mystery was especially twisty! I loved it. There were so many surprises. I had no idea any of the turns were coming and I was kept guessing through the whole book! I cannot wait to see what's next in this series!

A series of events leads Emily's assistant Nina to be charged with murder. This book is a bit far fetched even for the cozy mystery genre. Nina is the worst suspect and it is ridiculous for the police to even consider her. Some of the characters seemed completely out of place. This was definitely not my favorite book in the series, but I love the series enough that it will not stop me from reading the next.

This is the 5th book in the Deputy Donut series. In this installment, Emily and Nina have set up a donut booth at a local carnival. The carnival, taking place on Friday the 13th, seems to be more bad luck than good for the Deputy Donut girls. This bad luck then spills over into Nina’s apartment, where there is more chaos, including a dead body.

For those who read cozy mysteries because they are comforted by the familiar cozy formula, this book will likely be a hit. For those looking for something unique in the cozy genre, this isn’t likely the one for you. It has all of the elements of a typical coyz, right down to the recipes at the end. However, it is also slow moving at times, and some of the situations are just too convenient to feel believable.

Thanks go to NetGalley and Kensginton for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Beyond a Reasonable Donut by Ginger Bolton
Publisher: Kensington Books
Publication Date: May 25, 2021
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers

Beyond a Reasonable Donut is the fifth book in A Deputy Donut Mystery series by Ginger Bolton. I had not read the previous books, but was easily able to read this as a standalone mystery.

I definitely enjoyed this book. I thought the characters were great, the story was fun, and the mystery had great twists and turns. I look forward to reading the other books in this series, past and future!

I'm so grateful to Ginger Bolton, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie

I had so much fun reading this cozy mystery! I enjoyed almost every minute of this visit to Fallingbrook and Deputy Donut, the best donut shop around. The author has created a perfect setting with the donut shop and gorgeous, late summer Midwest. The characters are defined well enough to almost step off the pages. The mystery is intriguing, with an excellent red herring and sufficient plot twists. I enjoyed the pets, Deputy Donut and Ivan.

Emily owns Deputy Donut with her father-in-law, Tom, the retired police chief. His son, Emily’s husband, was killed in the line of duty seven years ago, and she could no longer handle working in the 911 phone center. The unique donut and coffee specialty shop is loved by locals and tourists alike. The staff is like family, and many of the regulars like extended family.

Emily and her assistant, Nina, went to the Faker’s Dozen carnival celebrating Friday the 13th. The main treat they will serve is their special recipe for three varieties of corn fritters which, in honor of the festival, are called corny fritters. Early that morning, they discovered that the bucket of confectioner’s sugar they brought went missing. Either someone stole it from the vintage Deputy Donut car or from their tent as they unloaded the car.

They met an interesting group of new folks over the course of the day. One is a mime, who does imitations of Marsha, the crabby, overbearing event organizer. Rodeo Rod appears interested in Nina, while Alf, a tourist, seemed to be interested in Emily. There is also a magician who acted friendly at first, until Nina caught him stealing from their cash box while the mime distracted customers. The magician ran off with a fistful of five-dollar bills, the mime ran after him, with Nina sprinting after them, yelling threats ending in or else.

Nina designed the bouquets and floral arrangements for the upcoming wedding of their friends Samantha and Hooligan. She is also preparing for a big step toward realizing her dream, a one-woman art show scheduled with a respected gallery in Madison. All but one of her paintings has been crated for shipping; she only needs to finish her huge masterpiece and ship it. She plans to work on it after the festival. Emily dropped her off at the grocery store, then realized Nina’s bag and wallet were in the back of her car. She checked the store, then Nina’s apartment. She arrived to find Nina’s entry locks broken and doors ajar, confectioner’s sugar spilled in front of Nina’s masterpiece, and the mime, lying injured nearby with her head crammed in the bucket of sugar. After removing the bucket, Emily sees that the mime looks a lot like Nina.

Nina arrives, stunned to see the mess and the mime, who Emily is trying to help. The mime can barely breathe through lungs coated with sugar and later died at the hospital. Nina is the only suspect based on what Brent, a detective and close friend of Emily, and the state investigator find. Emily is convinced Nina was the real target and the mime mistaken for her after a car tried to run Nina over the next day but despite that, Nina is the one put in jail.

I like Emily and Nina best. They have worked together for about a year, and Emily is convinced Nina is innocent. She would know if Nina were the kind of person who would kill a stranger, wouldn’t she? Their customers are also upset, as they think the world of Nina, and are willing to do all they can to get her out of jail. I enjoy Brent and think as her friends do, that Emily and Brent would make a great couple.

This is a challenging mystery to solve, especially with information they learn about Nina’s background. Emily is determined to get her friend and employee off the suspect list and out of jail and asks questions of people who were around the mime and the magician. There is a healthy helping of humor, especially offsetting the crisis near the final resolution, and characters I hope will be passing through town again. The end is very satisfying with all loose ends tied up. I highly recommend this cozy mystery and series!

Emily is looking forward to the Faker's Dozen Carnival, a festival that celebrates not only good luck but bad luck as well. She figures with the help of her assistant Nina the two should have no problem manning their tent and is excited for all the upcoming festivities. On the first day items start to go missing from their tent and then they are robbed making Emily think things couldn't get any worse. Emily learns she was wrong in her thoughts, Nina's home gets vandalized and a dead man is found among the debris. Even worse Emily soon realizes that the police are looking at Nina as their prime suspect and don't seem to be looking anywhere else. Follow along as Emily dives into the mystery of the dead man and all those mishaps that happened during the carnival. Can she figure out who is behind all these horrible deeds or will the culprit find another victim to add to the list.

As much as I love Emily, and the rest of the characters especially Dep the cat. This one was the first one in the series were I figured out who did it before Emily did. It was a fairly quick read that I finished in less than two days it would have been shorter if I didn't have to work and sleep. But it was still an enjoyable read. I always look forward to the donut recipes in the back of the book.

Emily Westhill, in partnership with her father-in-law, a retired police chief, owns Deputy Donut, where the best donuts, pastries, and coffee can be found. It’s time for the Faker’s Dozen Carnival in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin, in celebration of Friday the 13th, and they’re planning on a good time for all.

The crowd is expected to be huge—if Emily and her assistant, Nina, can get past the guardian of the gates to get to their booth. After two long trips from the Donut car to the booth, and moving their car, they’re ready to set sales records.

A missing bucket of powdered sugar causes a glitch as does a distracting mime and a thieving magician. Then there’s the woman seen skulking around their car.

When Nina’s apartment is broken into and an injured woman found lying beneath one of Nina’s large paintings, now damaged by powdered sugar sprinkled on the wet paint, they don’t know what to think.

The woman dies before explaining who she is or what she was doing but it seems to Emily, that Nina could be in danger. When a near miss hit and run occurs, she’s sure of it. But, why?

Suspects and motives are in generous quantities but really, who would want to kill a coffee shop employee/artist? Emily is determined to find out.

With the fairgoers, tourists, and the upcoming wedding of two of Emily’s best friends, readers will have to keep a sharp eye to follow the clues to the proper conclusion.

This is book five in the series. Emily is the widow of a police officer killed in the line of duty. There’s a possible romance between her and her late husband’s friend and partner but neither has pushed past possible into reality yet. Dep, the store cat who rules the office, is always a delight. Emily is someone you’d want for a friend—and not just for the donuts. This is a series I always look forward to reading.

In the back of the book, there are recipes for Corny Fritters (their Faker’s Dozen specialty), Sherried Mushroom Soup, and Guacamole.

This is book 5 in the Deputy Donut mystery series and it can be read as a stand alone. You'll enjoy the series more by reading the previous books. Emily and her assistant, Nina, are looking forward to manning the Deputy Donut tent at the Faker’s Dozen Carnival in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin—a festival held on Friday the thirteenth to celebrate good and bad luck. They are selling lots of goodies but there is something amiss when their bucket of confectionery sugar goes missing and a magician is robbing the merchants. Emily must now solve a murder and catch the vandal who ruined Nina's painting. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Beyond a Reasonable Donut Earns 5/5 Corny Fritters...Engaging Fun!

Ginger Bolton’s Deputy Donut Mystery series is entertaining entertainment with a clever mystery, engaging characters, humor, fur friend antics, donuts, and murder! Everything cozy fans like me drool over. Finishing this fifth book on Father’s Day, I was very taken by the dynamic between father-in-law Tom (retired police chief) and his daughter-in-law and widow Emily Westhill, a unique relationship often overlooked. I enjoyed Emily’s strength and clever investigative methods along with an eclectic group of two- and four-legged supporters, and Bolton’s style of writing has descriptions filling the senses, dialogue illustrating tone and personalities, and even with the darkness of murder includes entertaining wit and humor. Emily, Tom, and friend and shop assistant Nina make up Deputy Donut Café and will be participating in the Faker’s Dozen Carnival. It’s Friday the 13th and missing ingredients, break-ins, vandalism, and robbery seem apropos, however, an added horror is the dead body that makes Nina the main suspect in the murder. But, Emily questions whether Nina may have been the intended target. The story was complex with several possible scenarios and suspects, and the final reveal, one I missed in my own “this is what happened” moment, was a spot on ending. But, it’s an easy read, and beyond the mystery there is family, friendship, and Emily continuing to navigate life as a widow. Is her late husband’s partner one who could be the glue for her broken heart? That and more makes this a well-rounded, well-written story I highly recommend....and don’t forget the bonus recipes: Corny Fritters (their Faker’s Dozen specialty), Guacamole, and Sherried Mushroom Soup.

Beyond a Reasonable Donut by Ginger Bolton is a fantastically well-written novel of mystery.

Will Emily Westhill get the police to see that Nina Lapeer didn’t kill anyone?

Emily Westhill
Emily Westhill is our sleuth, and we see the book through her eyes. She is a restaurant co-owner who is also a widow of a police officer who died before the series. Emily seems to be a good person that doesn’t mean to get involved in murder investigations. She keeps her husband’s memory alive but can’t help liking her husband’s friend Brent. Emily is a great cat mom as well. Especially since she and the father, Tom, started Deputy Donut’s together.

I like about Emily because she seems to be a great person who happens to be in the wrong place at the worst times. In these times, Tom and Brent would rather have her stay away from any murder investigations. I have to say that Emily is a good sleuth, and I liked how she investigated this one to keep a loyal employee and friend out of jail. I haven’t found anything that I disliked about her.

The Mystery
The mystery is about finding who broke into Nina’s loft to ruin a painting and then kill the mime that was a part of a carnival earlier that day. Emily knows that Nina didn’t kill anyone as she is a nice person that always sees the good in everything. She follows many of the leads that she has found and is trying to keep the police in the loop of what she has found. I didn’t think it was the person that did it at all.

Five Stars
Beyond a Reasonable Donut by Ginger Bolton is a great mystery that I loved every minute of it. Ms. Bolton has done a fantastic job, and I loved the whole mystery novel. I also like the small town of Fallingbrook, and I plan to read others in this series. Ms. Bolton has made me a fan of her work. Don’t forget the recipes at the back of this book. They are Corny Fritters, Guacamole, and Sherried Mushroom Soup. They sound good.

I am giving this book five stars and recommending it to anyone that loves cozy mysteries.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Great Escapes Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Beyond a Reasonable Donut by Ginger Bolton.

Until the next time,
Karen the Baroness

If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out BaronessBookTrove.com.

This is the fifth book in the deputy donut series. Emily and her assistant, Nina are running a booth a the Faker's Dozen Carnival that is held on Friday the thirteenth. A body is discovered in Nina's apartment later that evening and the police seem to think Nina is involved. Emily doesn't believe Nina is a killer so she sets out to prove her innocence. I loved the carnival setting. The characters are always so much fun to read about and are very realistic. I loved Hooligan and Samantha's wedding. I thought the mystery was well done even though I figured out the killer. The reveal was good and I loved how everything played out. I received this book from netgalley and Kensington publishing in exchange for an honest review.