Buried in Beignets

I loved this book! Maggie Miller is laugh out loud funny. After her divorce she moves to the new age town of Table Rock, Arizona to open a beignet shop. She is setting up shop the day before her opening but when she goes to open a carton that should be holding the chairs for her shop she finds the dead body of her landlord instead, along with her missing rolling pin, now covered with blood. In addition to a handsome detective we meet a bunch of interesting characters including her attorney/organic farmer brother in law Andy and a former Olympic figure skater who, with his partner Clive, runs The Hitching Post -a bridal store next door. I loved meeting Maggie and hope there will be many future adventures to follow along with her. I highly recommend this book.

Welcome to Table Rock, Arizona, a town that makes Sedona seem run of the mill, and aliens outnumber the humans, at least by Maggie Miller's estimate.

After the failure of her marriage, Maggie Miller is eager to make a success of her new business, Maggie’s Beignet Cafe. She plans to serve plenty of New Orleans style coffee with chicory and beignets to her new neighbors, but fate intervenes. Rick Wilbur, the realtor who leased her the cafe space lies dead in her storeroom and Detective Highsmith sees her as the most likely suspect.

Maggie isn't convinced the police will find the real killer, but she has no idea how to go about finding the murderer. Despite her family's misgivings, Maggie clumsily asks question after question infuriating potential suspects and stepping on the toes of more than a few of her neighbors. Personally, I wasn't sure whether she would be able to find the killer before she alienated the entirety of Table Rock.

It wasn't easy to like Maggie, as she is self-centered and not the brightest of leads. Maggie’s tendency to fling unfounded accusations doesn't make it easy to sympathize with her. Nor does her internal commentary on her fellow residents, which was more denigrating than comic.

Buried in Beignets is well written, but its hard to enjoy a novel with an unsympathetic main character. I would have liked to see more of the quirkiness Table Rock is supposed to be known for. Having visited Sedona, I feel that the author didn't take full advantage of the setting or the local color.

3/5

Buried in Beignets is available for preorder and will be released December 1, 2015.

I received a copy of Buried in Beignets from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

I'd rather eat a beignet than be Buried in Beignets http://muttcafe.com/2015/09/buried-in-beignets/
09/14/15

All thrillers are not serious. In fact, there are some very funny thriller novels published that not only supply a good dose of suspense, but laughs as well. J.R. Ripley's Buried in Beignets is a good example. This novel tells the story of Maggie Miller, who, after being newly divorced, decides to use her life savings and loans from family to open a Beignet shop in a small Arizona town. The day before she opens, while unpacking boxes with chairs for the dining room, she discovers a dead body who turns out to be her landlord. The murder weapon is Maggie's own marble rolling pin, and since she is a newcomer to town, and since the body is found in her shop, she becomes a viable suspect. On advice from her family, she feels she needs to find the real murderer so that she can avoid jail and open her beignet shop.

As the novel progresses, readers are introduced to some fairly bizarre characters, neighboring shop owners, family members, and law enforcement personnel. The novel is mostly tongue-in-cheek, so readers will be laughing throughout, even though Maggie, et. al. are in danger much of the time.

Like all good culinary mysteries, which this sort-of is, Ripley supplies recipes; he also adds some non-fiction minutiae such as how to choose a proper wedding dress, how to fix a slipped bicycle chain, yoga and stretching instructions, and others.

As is typical of cozies, there is no graphic sex, violence, or strong language, so this novel is suitable for almost everyone. Maggie is likeable and has a very strange family, so many readers will be able to relate to her. The novel does have a surprise ending; there are several suspects, each with a viable motive to get rid of the landlord, and while Maggie looks at all of the suspects, she is obviously not a professional detective, so she misses a lot and jumps to conclusions as to who-done-it.

The novel takes place over a short period of time, the store is closed while it is a crime scene, and it is a little confusing in a few spots as to whether Maggie has missed her opening day or if it is the day before opening day. Nevertheless, the book is a fun read, has good recipes (at least one is good – the other is for a tree-hugger type casserole that this reader isn't about to try), helpful hints, and plenty of laughs. Readers who want a change from heavy thriller novels will welcome this quick and easy read.

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

Maggie has moved to Table Rock, Arizona, to start over. Her mother and sister live there. She's found a good place to rent for her shop and she's going to sell beignets. That's not normal fare for Arizona. Of course, it's not normal to find your landlord dead in a box that supposed to have chairs in it either...

Severn House and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It will be published December 1st.

First the police hold up her grand opening. Then they suspect her of murder because it was her rolling pin that killed him. She's got to get rid of this cloud of guilt that people see over her head.

What she finds out is that everyone hated her landlord for one reason or another. He was a "be nice until the lease is signed" kind of guy. After that, it was all promises but no action.

The more questions she asks, the more people get angry with her. When someone attempts to set her air conditioner on fire by tampering with the wiring, those who care about her tell her to back off the case. But, by then, she's taking it personal. It's one thing to kill her landlord and another to try to kill her!

Maggie is finding some interesting men in town (she tells everyone her husband is dead, but she's just divorced), her sister and her husband keep her out of trouble, and it's an interesting murder case. This is the first in a new series. I'll be watching for the next one.

If you are looking for a cozy mystery this one is for you.

Sweet story without an obvious bad guy. The heroine takes a little getting used to as she is not the brightest bulb but she is a bit endearing.