A Cookie Cutter Shop Mystery, by Virginia Lowell, Berkley Prime Crime, April 2011
A little store in Chatterly Heights, MD that specializes in cookie-cutters is the setting for this first book in a new cozy mystery series. After residing in Baltimore for twelve years, newly divorced Olivia Greyson is back in her hometown and living in an apartment over her new business,The Gingerbread House. Along with her best friend, Maddie Briggs, she enjoys managing her shop, baking cookies, offering baking lessons and throwing special events to entice more customers into her store.
Olivia's contentment is short-lived, however. Early one morning her business mentor and good friend, Clarisse Chamberlain, is found dead at home. Sheriff Del Jenkins thinks it's a possible suicide. Olivia thinks it's murder, and begins her own investigation to prove it. But when it's discovered that Clarisse left Olivia a tidy sum of money and a pricey antique cookie-cutter collection, Olivia becomes a suspect. Then the town's nosy postman winds up in the hospital, the only clue to his critical condition an empty cookie bag from The Gingerbread House. Suddenly Livie's search for Clarisse's killer becomes personal.
Things move at a slower pace in Chatterly Heights and in this story too. If you like Miss Marple mysteries and want a pleasant, small town story with familiar characters and an easy to follow plot, make sure to add this book to your To Buy list.
* The next book in the series, A Cookie Before Dying, comes out in December 2011.
PROTAGONIST: 31-year-old, divorced, shop owner
CRITTERS: Spunky, a rescued Yorkie
ACTION: Small town, slower-paced
LOVE INTEREST: The sheriff
ROMANCE: Very little for protaganist, more action for best friend
QUIRKINESS: Drives a green 1972 Valiant, mom's a constantly busy, 4'11”, flower child
INTERESTING TIDBITS: Valuable cookie-cutters, versatility of cookie-cutters
FUN FACTOR: Some funny parts
IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU MAY LIKE: Miss Marple Mysteries by Agatha Christie; Booktown Mysteries by Lorna Barrett; Victoria Square Mysteries by Lorraine Bartlett; Cardmaking Mysteries by Tim Myers and Elizabeth Bright