I read my first Deputy Donut mystery last Christmas season, and I enjoyed the small town atmosphere and characters enough that I was interested in reading the next in the series, Cinnamon Twisted, which was published this spring. Emily Westhill is getting ready to be a bridesmaid in her friend's wedding. She's perplexed by a woman who comes to her donut shop two days in a row, and sits there for hours. She strikes up a brief but cordial conversation and learns that the woman has rented the family cabin of an acquaintance of Emily's. So when the woman drops an earring when rushing out of the shop to avoid someone, and Emily will be passing the cabin on her way to her parent's campsite, it's no bother to drop the earring off. But she finds someone dead at the cabin, and with her boyfriend Brent out of town teaching at the at police academy, Emily finds herself the main suspect, and so has to try to solve the mystery alone. Who was Pamela trying to avoid at the donut shop? And why is Emily's new neighbor, seen near the scene of the crime, so evasive about why he was there? And just how was the new police chief involved with the victim? I liked this book, but not as much as the one I read before, I'll confess. The murder and its solving was pretty typical for the genre, but the tie in with the history of EMily's house seemed forced and too coincidental, e.g. Kayla and Emily's parents' storyline. I like Fallingbrook and the Wisconsin small town setting, and the secondary characters are as likable as Emily herself. But I thought this book was weak, and I'm glad this wasn't my first exposure to the series or I might not read further. It's a light and quick read, perfect for vacation.

Emily Westhill is not your average widowed young donut shop manager. First off, she also co-owns with Tom, the former chief of police who was her father in law when she was a 911 operator before her cop husband's tragic death. Emily and her cat Dep (short for Deputy Donut) store mascot and partner in crime-solving have been busy over the last few years and this story will be no different. It starts out like any other day, with the regulars, such as the knitting group making their way in for donuts and chit chat. A few unfamiliar faces pop in such as a pharmaceutical rep who seems a bit sketchy, says he is in town for business. Pamela Firtston, a new resident to town, who is renting a cabin from the family of Emily's friend Summer, stops by as well and interestingly enough she has a cat toy especially for Dep, that is shaped like a donut. But that is not the only unusual occurrence. Emily returns a dropped earring to Pamela only to find her dead. Now for some unknown reason, Emily is on the new Chief of Police's suspect list and her Detective boyfriend is not allowed near the case. It is not as though Emily doesn't have enough to take care between the donut shop and helping with her friends wedding festivities, the last thing she needs is to hounded by the Chief. How is that he was so close by when the 911 call went out in the first place and why is he so angry all of the time? This mystery is like a filled donut without a label, you just aren't sure what is in it but either way you know you're going to like it. So many suspects, and even a little sisterly rivalry from the past will play a key part. This cozy kept me turning pages and craving donuts. Thankfully there is a recipe for those wonderful cinnamon twists that is both easy to make and easy to eat. Looking forward to the next one, especially since Dep gave her consent to the new arrangement.

This is the 7th installment in the Deputy Donut Mystery series. Emily Westhill who runs Deputy Donuts with her deceased husband’s Father Tom in Fallingbrook Wisconsin. It is just before the beginning of summer and Emily is getting ready for her friend Misty’s wedding when she befriends a customer Pamela who offers a gift to her cat Dep. Pamela requests to give a toy to Dep and asks if she can go into the office to give it to him, but Emily is wondering if Pamela is trying to avoid someone as she appears scared of someone. When Pamela runs off after another customer comes in, she leaves behind an earring in the parking lot. Emily picks up the earring and when driving out to her parent’s campground she decides to try and see Pamela at the house she is renting. It appears Pamela is not home, however, Emily hears the smoke alarm going off so she rushes in and after turning off the stove she finds Pamela dead. She calls 911 and Brent her detective boyfriend who was to meet her at her parents. Soon after Brent arrives the new police Chief arrives and takes an instant dislike to Emily. Brent is sent out of town while Chief Agnew is going to take the lead on the investigation with Emily as his chief suspect. Emily is not to be deterred and investigates to clear her name and find out who killed Pamela. Chief Agnew finds a letter addressed to Emily regarding her house and a supposed treasure from the original owner. This was a good mystery and I enjoyed Emily’s determination to get to the bottom of Pamela’s death and the mystery surrounding her home. I do not like the new police chief and hope he’s not in other stories. Nice ending with Brent and Emily. Looking forward to the next installment.

A solid and highly enjoyable mystery with a great setting and characters at the heart of it. I'll definitely be looking into more of this series.

4.5 🌟

This series is as sweet as the donuts featured in every book. Emily is a young entrepreneur who has overcome great tragedy to live a well-lived life. Her best sidekick is Dep, her tabby cat. Together they solve the greatest mysteries.

In Cinnamon Twisted there is a wedding, a murder, a new police chief who is very suspicious, and a surprise at the end. I’m already looking forward to February 2024 when the next book releases to see the continuation of the surprise. What’s the surprise you ask? I’m not telling. Go get your copy of the book and find out.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions expressed above are entirely my own.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars. The mystery of this one was good and definitely kept me guessing on who the culprit was. The new police chief and his over the top animosity towards Emily irritated me and I’m hoping that won’t be ongoing as the series continues. That will be a turn off for me going forward. Good read in a series I’ve enjoyed to this point.

A clever mystery with humor, history, and romance mixed in.
Many thanks to Kensington and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved the two previous stories in this series, however, this one felt like some of the characters were reaching. The new police chief acted very incompetent and while I know throwing allegations around with little to no evidence can be common in cozies, it was a bit too much in this story. It was hard to stay engaged with little to nothing happening in the majority of the book. I did really enjoy the wedding scene though! Nice to read about the MC outside of her work and home.

This is the seventh book in the deputy donut series. I loved catching up with Emily. In this book, Emily comes across a dead body when she goes to return an earring to a woman who had been in Deputy Donuts earlier in the day. The new police chief suspects her in the crime so she has to prove her innocence. I enjoyed the story and the plot of the book. I wish we would have gotten more of Brent and the characters at deputy donuts. However, I did feel it was a good change of pace to have Brent out of town and not actively investigating. This was a solid read and I am looking forward to reading more.

This is a favorite cozy mysteries for me. I look forward to spending time with the characters, seeing what's going on in their lives. The details of the wedding were lots of fun, but what stands out here is the mystery, there are many threads to follow and they all seem like they are possibilities.

This series keeps getting better and better. I'm loving all the characters but especially dep the cat. But I also enjoy the mysteries as well. I can't wait till the next one.

Fun and fast-paced cozy mystery. So much is going on....murder and danger, an interesting mystery, and plenty of red herrings/suspects to keep you guessing. Emily has to stay on her toes...and one step ahead of the new chief (who's looking at her as a likely murder suspect), if she wants to figure out whodunit before she finds herself underwater....or in jail.

Fun book and series. I love Emily, Dep-the-cat, and all the other characters in the town. Once I start reading a book in this series, I never wanna put it down until I'm done.

Many thanks to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor or expectation.

Emily is once again smack dab in the middle of the latest murder. After a brief encounter with the victim at Deputy Donut, she becomes a suspect in her murder. When Brett, her cop/boyfriend is sent out of town, Emily must solve the murder without him. She engages help from a few new characters as well as her normal side-kicks. The new characters are a great addition! With a crooked cop and no clear suspect, the reader is kept on the edge of their seat until the final pages. I especially loved the last few pages which will have you wishing the next book was already out so you can continue with this great series.

The Deputy Donut series is one of my favorites. Emily lets her curiosity get the best of her. She follows a woman to her home deep in the woods and finds herself dragged into another murder mystery. The plot in this one was a bit off the rails with a crooked cop thrown in for fun. This was not my favorite book in the series, but I expect it to just be a blip.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Love is in the air. Emily’s best friend is getting married. Her own romance with Brent has heated up now that they both have admitted to having feelings for one another. Things should be great. But a woman who spent several hours at Deputy Donut and gave Dep a catnip toy is murdered. Emily is the one who finds the body and even though it is clear she did nothing wrong, the new chief of police, Agnew, is determined to convict Emily. His tactics are way over the top, which does detract somewhat from the story. And he sends Brent away so he cannot interfere with Agnew’s plan against Emily.

Luckily Brent is able to call upon outside resources but if this guy was real, he would be under observation instead of in charge of an investigation. Sad too. This is actually a good mystery involving possible treasure in the house that Emily and her late husband bought and renovated and somebody wants the treasure. Lots of suspicious actions not the least of which is Agnew’s harassment of Emily. The solution to the crime is hand delivered to Emily but that does not mean she is out of danger yet. Thankfully Dep, her kitty, is there to protect her.

Not the strongest book in the series but still worthy of four purrs and one paw up.

Cinnamon Twisted by Ginger Bolton is book seven in the 'Deputy Donut Mystery Series' and was a great read! Emily Westhill runs the best doughnut shop in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin, alongside her retired police chief father-in-law and her tortoiseshell tabby cat, Deputy Donut.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable page-turner - the plot was solid and entertaining and the characters were a very likeable bunch of folk. Emily is a marvellous protagonist with a kind heart. Ginger Bolton has surrounded Emily with a great group of family and friends that totally support her. With sprinkles of humour, the writing style of the author continues to wow me, and the many twists and the killer's identity had me baffled. I was kept guessing and totally invested in the story until its surprising conclusion. Overall, a delightful caper that I highly recommend as part of a series and a standalone read so dive in as soon as you can! Very highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my own request from Kensington Books via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

This is the first book by this author Ginger Boltom that I came across. and figured let me try it out if I liked it. Amazing characters and fun and mysterious book. Emily Westhill is in the thick of it all and they are trying ing to pin the murder on her. Well, she shows them that they can't do ot to her and she gets to the bottom of the action. And her boyfriend is hipped away so they can try to pin it on her, but she was smarter than the Sherriff thought.

This was such a fun book. I hadn't read any of the other books in this series, but now I need to go back and do so. The characters and small town were a delight and the mystery was a lot of fun too.

Cinnamon Twisted is the first book in the “Deputy Donut Mystery” series that I have read. I figured you couldn’t go wrong with donuts and murder. The murder of a customer who was fascinated by the shop's namesake, Dep the cat, and a detective that is certain Emily is guilty of killing someone she didn’t even know; add in a background mystery about the main characters home, and you have everything you will need for several hours of enjoyment.

At first, I was a bit lost on the characters and the story. To be honest, I didn’t realize the shop was named after Dep, Emily’s cat, and I’m still not sure what the cinnamon twists had to do with anything. The characters were well-written, but I didn’t find many I could relate to, and I wasn’t overly fond of Emily. The police chief and the new detective on the case are a nightmare and untrustworthy. I was uncertain about Emily’s boyfriend, Brent; he didn’t play a big enough role for me to care. Emily’s neighbor Daniel was interesting, and I would have liked to learn more about him.

The mystery was okay; the suspects were far and few between, mainly Emily and then Daniel. At one point, I thought maybe the detective would accuse Dep of killing the woman with the cinnamon twists, but thankfully he didn’t go that far. The ending was good, the killer, once unmasked, was who I thought it was, but the unveiling made the book worth reading. I enjoyed the story overall, but it took a while for me to warm up to the characters. This I attribute to not having read the other books in the series. I highly suggest that new readers start at the beginning of this series to get a good idea of who all the characters are, a better run down on the town, and Emily’s shop, before reading this book.

Ginger Bolton continues her Deputy Donut stories with Cinnamon Twisted. Emily of Deputy Donut and her cat get involved in a murderous death of a woman she finds dead in a cottage. The new Chief of Police is suspicious and is looking for an easy arrest. Emily keeps falling over evidence and crimes while her boyfriend is away teaching a police course. Whodunit? What is the connection to a death of a local archaeologist in Newfoundland? Is someone stealing items? Great cozy.