Egg Drop Dead by Laura Childs

9780425281703

332 Pages
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Release Date: December 6, 2016

Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Murder, Amateur Sleuth, Women Investigator, Food, Recipes

Suzanne is driving to the farm to get some cheese when she finds him dead in the barn. She thinks she sees young Noah out in the woods. The other owners of the Cackleberry Club café, Petra and Toni are grief-struck. Everyone loved Mike. She begins investigating the murder but everything is hopping since it is the week of Halloween and they have many events planned at the Cackleberry Club.

This is the sixth book in the series. The story is written in third person point of view and is well paced. The characters are developed and you find out a little more about them throughout each book. This is another good series by Laura Childs along with her scrapbooking series and her tea shop series. If you enjoy reading cozy mysteries with a woman amateur sleuth, you will enjoy the series. Also, there are recipes included at the end of the book. Who doesn’t love more recipes?

Culinary Mystery readers are most likely familiar with Laura Childs’ bestselling Cackleberry Club series featuring Suzanne, Petra, and Toni, owner’s of Cackleberry Club café. Egg Drop Dead is the seventh installment of the series. The girls are very particular about using high quality ingredients, and local ones when they can get them. There is a shady vendor who is trying to get them to order his substandard products instead of continuing with their trusted, albeit more expensive, suppliers, and he is very pushy, so pushy, in fact, there is a bit of conflict. Suzanne can’t seem to get in touch with Mike Mullen, who is a trusted vendor, so she goes to his farm to talk to him. He isn’t in his regular spot and as she checks other places on the farm, she discovers his murdered body. Of course she and her friends are outraged and vow to find the murderer. The problem is, as they get closer to finding the one who would do such a horrible thing, the Cackleberry Club finds that they are actually in danger and may be victims of murder themselves. Things are not as they appear, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone they can really trust.

Egg Drop Dead is a fun cozy; it is well-written, the characters are likeable, and there is no graphic violence, language, or sex. There are, however, a few good recipes, that will certainly appeal to readers who enjoy the culinary mystery genre. The book is light-hearted, even though there is a murder and mystery surrounding it. There is also plenty of suspense, which builds right up to the dénouement. The unmasking of the murderer comes at the end, and it is, of course a surprise.

Recommended for culinary mystery aficionados, Egg Drop Dead is a fast and fun read. The recipes are mostly quick and easy, and are dishes everybody will actually want to make – a four ingredient pumpkin soup, apple scones, molasses bread, pumpkin fudge, a chicken stir-fry, etc. All great recipes to savor while reading the book.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Egg Drop Dead is a thoroughly enjoyable cozy mystery from the Cackleberry Club Mysteries, a series that I like much better than the Scrapbooking Mysteries. Laura Childs is a talented writer who knows how to entertain readers with a well-crafted mystery, vivid setting, and engaging characters. Although seventh in the series, it can stand alone.

From the countryside, to events like the yarn truck and the Knitters’ Tea Party, to the Cackleberry Club Café itself, I was drawn in by all the sights, sounds, and scents so vividly conveyed. Co-owners of the café – Suzanne, Toni and Petra – are each charming in their own way. I didn’t get to know Toni and Petra as well as I would have liked, but I’m sure that reading the entire series would provide a better sense of who they are. Suzanne is an appealing lead character. I enjoyed her romantic relationship with Dr. Sam Hazelet and especially her emotional side, revealed through her rescue of horses and befriending of an autistic teen.

The killer wasn’t obvious to me, as several people had motives, and I just enjoyed being caught up in the narrative. The writing is tight and flows smoothly toward a quite exciting conclusion. I look forward to much more entertaining reading from Laura Childs.

Recommended.

I was provided a free copy of this book through Great Escapes Tours. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Gets better with each book. The ladies could be a member of your family and this could be your home town. I each how Mrs Child's create a fun loving mystery without taking away the suspense and the ability to make you think. I can't wait for the wedding

Egg Drop Dead
A Cackleberry Club Mystery #7
Laura Childs
Berkley Prime Crime, December 2016
ISBN 978-0-425-28170-3
Hardcover

From the publisher—

In Laura Childs’s New York Times bestselling mystery series, Suzanne, Petra, and Toni—co-owners of the Cackleberry Club café—are back to track down another bad egg…

Maintaining good personal relationships with their suppliers is one of the secrets of the Cackleberry Club café’s success, so Suzanne doesn’t mind going out to Mike Mullen’s dairy farm to pick up some wheels of cheese. She’s looking forward to a nice visit with the mild-mannered farmer before heading back to their hectic kitchen.

But when she arrives, Mike’s nowhere to be found. The moaning of his cows leads her to look in the barn, where she discovers a bloodcurdling sight—the farmer’s dead body. Apparently not everyone was as fond of Mike Mullen as the Cackleberry Club.

Churning with grief and outrage, Suzanne, Petra, and Toni vow to find the farmer’s murderer—but as they get closer to the truth, the desperate killer gets whipped into a frenzy and plans to put the squeeze on them…

Why on earth would anyone want to brutally kill a quiet, likeable dairy farmer? Cafe owner Suzanne has no idea but her best friends and partners, Toni and Petra, push her to do her own unofficial investigation. Reluctant at first, Suzanne caves in, mainly because she found the body and, to her way of thinking, she’s already involved because of that.

One thing about this series that amuses me is that those who are supposed to be investigating know they shouldn’t let Suzanne stick her nose in but they also recognize the futility of such a lofty goal, especially since she’s engaged to the doctor who’s called to the scene. Sheriff Doogie won’t actually volunteer information if he can help it but he doesn’t try awfully hard to keep her out of it so Suzanne sets out to snoop, aided and abetted by Toni and Petra.

Unfortunately, life goes on for all (except poor Mike) and sleuthing has to be crammed into a busy schedule of Halloween festivities, afternoon teas, a pizza party and planning for the big wedding Sam has in mind. Suzanne soon discovers that potential motives and suspects abound including a teen with odd behavior and an overly protective mother, a land developer and the local drug trade but it’s Suzanne herself who makes a really bad move.

As with nearly all cozies, our intrepid sleuth does some things that make me shake my head in dismay and her cohorts act a bit more clueless than they should but I really enjoy the folks of Kindred. Egg Drop Dead proved to be as entertaining as I’ve come to expect in this series and the included recipes sound just plain scrumptious. I think I’ll be trying Suzanne’s Chicken Pickin’ Stir-Fry first 😉

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, January 2017.

Laura Childs never disappoints. This book reads well all by itself but you will want to read more in this series once you've read this. These are people you want to spend time with.
Laced with humor and heart, pull up a stool at the Cackleberry Club cafe or come for tea and gossip.

The fast pace begins with the first page and doesn't end until the explosive conclusion.
If you like small town mysteries, a warm romance, Halloween, horses, well meaning neighbors or just a fun all around good read, grab this book and enjoy.


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