Review: A Spoonful of Murder by Connie Archer

A Spoonful of Murder
(A Soup Lover’s Mystery)
Brand New Series
A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery
The Berkley Publishing Group (August 7, 2012)
Published by The Penguin Group
Cozy Mystery
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages ISBN-13: 978-0425251478
Cover Illustration by Cathy Gendron
Cover Design by Diana Kolsky

Welcome to Snowflake, Vermont. Tourists arrive to hit the slopes and stop into By The Spoonful for a nice hot bowl of soup and a sandwich.

Lucky is forced to return from Wisconsin when she inherits the restaurant after an accident claims both her parents. She has a lot of decisions to make about her Grandfather who seems to be developing Alzheimer’s, the restaurant, and basically her future.

When a blonde tourist is found behind dead and frozen behind the soup shop and her chef is the number one suspect Lucky needs to re-prioritize. She takes stock of the situation and decides to save her employee and her business she is going to find out “who iced the tourist and landed her chef in the soup, ” being careful not become the next victim du jour.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

What a “Souper” idea for a cozy mystery series!

Lucky seems to have a very bad run of luck at the moment. While still grieving for her parents and trying to keep the restaurant open, her rock, her grandfather starts to have memory issues. Add to that a murder right behind their shop. Her soup bowl is running over.

With all this drama the author has set a great foundation for this series. We have met the star and recurring characters and they have been left with plenty of room to grow. The setting is ideal. Plenty of tourists to cause plenty of trouble.

This story touched my heart in a couple of ways. Her grandpa Jack reminded me so much of own grandpa. But it was the soup shop that felt like home. My parents owned a cafe in our small town while I was growing up. Many of the staff were family and those that weren’t were quickly adopted in. My parents also helped out those that couldn’t pay get a hot meal, just like Lucky’s parents. The restaurant was their life. They would have stepped up for anyone exactly the way Lucky did for Sage. I thank the author for reigniting some wonderful memories.

The culinary cozies always give me the same problem. I get so hungry while reading them 🙂 The author has included some recipes for us to try as we wait for A Broth of Betrayal that will hit stores April 2, 2013.

To Find Out More About Connie Archer Visit Her Webpage Here.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”