Muffalettas and Murder: Small-Town Girl Mysteries
by Jann Franklin
About Muffalettas and Murder
Muffalettas and Murder: Small Town Girl Mysteries
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Louisiana
Publisher : Rougarou Press (January 30, 2023)
Paperback : 238 pages
ISBN-13 : 979-8987739402
Digital ASIN : B0BPQYJQ3T
Evangeline Delafose is finding Graisseville, Louisiana just as she remembered—boring and uneventful. Until her brother Nate asks her to help solve a murder.
Follow Ev as she navigates clues, dead bodies, and quirky small-town residents to solve a mystery. And of course, show her little brother that she’s still got it.
This is a clean faith-based read with no profanity, sex, or graphic violence.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Author Evangeline (Ev) Delafose has moved home to Graisseville, Louisiana three years following the tragic death of her husband, the inspiration for her long-running police procedural series. She has no desire to write or eat. Her friends and brother Nate are worried about her. Nate is a deputy with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Department and he has come up with an idea to get her out of her doldrums. He asks for her help with a cold case hoping a fresh set of eyes will move the investigation ahead. She surprisingly teams up with local handyman and recently licensed private investigator, Shorty Cormier, who will work on the case for expenses and a muffaletta sandwich a day.
Shorty has his way of investigating and Ev has hers but together they follow the clues, and interview the suspects while trying to find something her brother missed. This may just be what she needed to move her life in a positive direction plus she loves showing her brother up any chance she gets.
Ms Franklin has created an interesting protagonist. Evangeline’s husband’s death really affected her. Everything about their lives was entwined. He came home from work and shared his cases and she used his experiences in her books. She says it herself, Doug Delafose was her character New Orleans police detective Lou Bergeron. Doug also read her books first to be sure what she wrote was authentic. His death left her stuck. She was shutting down. Her kids didn’t want her to move close to them so she finally moved closer to her brother Nate and his wife Bonnie. She is a smart woman with a doctorate but she struggles daily. She needs help to find herself and live her life in a new way. I was happy with the characters the author surrounded her with. They really cared about her and took her situation to heart. I do wish Evangeline wouldn’t have waited so long to move home and get the support she needed.
Graisseville, Louisiana, population 298 is a typical Southern small town where senior ladies break out their casseroles to try to catch one of the few available men, like Shorty. He is quite a ladies’ man. It is a place where everyone knows everyone’s business and gossips readily. They have opinions on every topic and can’t wait to share them. So it should be easy to figure out who killed Michael Cook and why. Investigating a murder isn’t the same as writing about one but Ev has good instincts and asks good questions. Shorty, on the other hand, has a way with women, never turns down food of any kind, and may eat Ev’s food too. Then at the last moment throws out a zinger of a question. They are an unusual team but play to their strengths. There were plenty of twists throughout the story but I kept my focus on one individual and I was right. I loved that during the showdown the person said “I don’t have time to give you a Murder She Wrote roundup.” But the needed details were spilled.
Humor is abundant in this story. The town is filled with quirky characters. Shorty is a hoot! Ev has some funny inner monologues as she thinks and overthinks situations.
This series is billed as faith-based and prayers are prevalent. Shorty knows Ev is religious and goes to great lengths not to curse in front of her which adds to the humor.
Muffalettas and Murder is the first book in the Small Town Girl Mystery Series. It was more than a whodunit. It was a story of self-discovery after a traumatic event. I enjoyed meeting Evangeline and all the people in her sphere. The mystery was well-plotted and executed. I am looking forward to seeing a more confident Ev as the series continues now that she has handled some hurdles she needed to work through.
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About Jann Franklin
Jann Franklin is a faith-based cozy mystery writer living in Grand Cane, Louisiana with slightly less than three hundred other people. Many of her stories are based on the tales she hears from residents.
She and her husband John enjoy Sundays at Grand Cane Baptist Church, dinner with family and friends, and watching the lightning bugs in their backyard. Their kids come to visit, when they aren’t too busy living their big-city lives. Visit her at www.jannfranklin.com
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Great Escapes Praise for Muffalettas and Murder: Small Town Girl Mysteries
by Jann Franklin
I loved Muffalettas and Murder by Jann Franklin! It’s the first book in her Small Town Girl Mysteries, and if you love small town cozy mysteries, this is for you!
~Christy’s Cozy Corners
Muffalettas and Murder: Small Town Girl Mysteries by Jann Franklin is lots of fun! Clocking in a little over 200 pages, the first in this new cozy mystery series packs a lot in. Set in a small town (and I mean SMALL – about 200 folks!) this mystery is full of engaging characters, a solid mystery, and great humor.
~Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books
My rating for Muffalettas and Murder by Jann Franklin is five stars, and I definitely recommend it to all cozy mystery readers. Ms. Franklin does an excellent job of weaving the clues together and keeping the true killer from coming to the surface.
~Baroness’ Book Trove
MUFFALETTAS AND MURDER is a book about starting over and finding purpose. An engaging book filled with Louisiana charm, laugh-out-loud moments, and the constant of good friends and family make an enjoyable start to a series.
~Cozy Up With Kathy
Muffalettas and Murder by Jann Franklin is an often-hilarious and layered small-town mystery with endearingly quirky characters, a sweet new canine sidekick, and loads of Louisiana charm (and food). I can’t wait to read the next book at my first opportunity to see what these two unlikely friends get up to next.
~Reading Is My SuperPower
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What an intriguing mystery! Evangeline and Shorty make an interesting team.