No Farm No Fowl (Thelma & Louisa Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Spin-Off from the Bonnie & Clyde Mystery Series
Setting – Georgia
Cozy Queen Publishing LLC (April 12, 2022)
Paperback : 198 pages
ISBN-10 : 1954878214
ISBN-13 : 978-1954878211
Kindle ASIN : B09N8N3CRR
It’s out of the frying pan and into the fire for Thelma and Louisa in this new farm to fun cozy mystery series!
Polish chicken breeder Louisa Eggers and her beloved hen, Thelma, are enjoying life sunny side up in their earthy cottagecore community of Meadowbrook. Friends and neighbors can’t get enough of Louisa’s special breakfast recipes, and she has high hopes of feathering her nest with income from the budding egg enterprise.
But when a local naysayer, seemingly determined to bring bad press to Louisa’s community, lifestyle, and café is found dead with a belly full of her quiche, and the coroner crows murder, all eyes turn to Louisa for an explanation.
To save their business and reputation, Thelma and Louisa lay a plan to find the killer. Can they crack this case before it’s too late? Or will they find themselves in a heaping helping of trouble?
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Welcome to the cottagecore community of Meadowbrook where Louisa Eggers has made her home with her favorite Polish chicken Thelma. Her mother would rather have her living at home and helping with the family business but she is working hard to have her own success with Souffle the Day selling quiches and souffles.
Her business has been open just three months and she had high hopes that a local food critics review would drive even more customers to her little cafe but instead, he gave her place a scathing review. When he returned she was hoping to change his mind so she served him up a delicious quiche. After just a few bites he keels over dead and Louisa is scrambling to prove her innocence and save her business.
Louisa and Thelma may have to crack a few eggs to get to the truth but she is not going to chicken out until she catches the real killer.
We first met Louisa in Burden of Poof, the first book in the Bonnie & Clyde Mystery Series
but this book can be read all on its own.
Louisa is a wonderful main character. She has settled in the communal community of Meadowbrook, a neighborhood in Cromwell, Georgia with her inherited goats and her flock of chickens. She is determined to make a life there for herself which is the total opposite of the socialite life she was brought up in. She truly is living her dream until one little review could bring it to a very early end. A little quirky, she puts Thelma in a cage and takes her everywhere with her and the chicken loves it.
We also meet her friend Mary, who is totally driven by one thing, selling/trading her eggs. If Louisa’s cafe fails, that affects Mary in a major way. The friendship between the two women is there is just not a warm and fuzzy one yet. I do like the way they banter.
Then there is Eli. There is a palpable romantic charge between him and Louisa but she really doesn’t know much about him and why he has settled down in their little community. He and Mary are all in to help Louisa sleuth out the killer. He also steps up to keep her safe.
Louisa’s mother is a true southern woman who loves her daughter so much she will do anything for her but she really wants Louisa to come home and take over her rightful role at Laurelwood which has become a living museum. Louisa is happy to help but her life at Meadowbrook is her number one priority.
All the characters Ms. Lindsey has created are delightful, human, and animal. From the core characters to the supporting cast, they feel genuine and their dialogues feel true to life.
The mystery she has wrapped these characters in is very well-plotted with several suspects. She dished up some egg-citing twists that pulled me deeper into the plot as I tried to solve it all before the big reveal. I failed as the true culprit flew completely under my radar. I do love it when I am surprised at the end.
The author also tangles some romance amidst the mystery. Eli and Louisa are taking it slow but there is a wedding at the end that had me smiling and giggling a bit too.
No Farm, No Fowl was an egg-cellent start for this series. Engaging characters and a great mystery had me entertained from the first page to the last. There was a cliffhanger at the end to lead readers into book two and I can’t wait for it to be released. I hope to spend a lot of time in Georgia with these characters.
Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent
Julie Anne Lindsey is an award-winning and bestselling author of mystery and romantic suspense. She’s published more than forty novels since her debut in 2013 and currently writes series as herself, as well as under multiple pen names, for Harlequin, Kensington, Sourcebooks and Crooked Lane Books.
When Julie’s not creating new worlds or fostering the epic love of fictional characters, she can be found in Kent, Ohio, enjoying her blessed Midwestern life. And probably plotting murder with her shamelessly enabling friends. Today she hopes to make someone smile. One day she plans to change the world. Learn more about Julie at julieannelindsey.com
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The Bonnie & Clyde Mystery Series
Find more by Julie Anne Lindsey here.
Julie also writes as Bree Baker, Jacqueline Frost
, and Julie Chase
.
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.”