Essentials of Murder (Aromatherapy Apothecary Mystery #1)
by Kim Davis
narrated by Teri Schnaubelt
My Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f
Blurb:
After a scandalous arrest in San Francisco, Carissa Carmichael has moved back to her small Southern California hometown to start over as she opens her Aromatherapy Apothecary shop and reflexology services. A tourist destination, Oak Creek Valley, seems the perfect place to put the past behind her, but it seems no one will let her forget. When she finds the man who threatened to drive her out of business murdered in her shop, Carissa becomes the primary suspect, especially when her fingerprints are found on the murder weapon. Despite her father’s position as Oak Creek Valley’s chief of police, most townspeople assume she’s guilty.Refusing to run again, Carissa knows she must prove her innocence to save her shop and save her father’s career when the investigating detective turns his focus on her. With suspects acting as slippery as the essential oils she distills, it’s up to Carissa to apply pressure and sniff out the truth before it’s too late.
My Review
I received a free copy from Tantor Audio and voluntarily reviewed it.
Essentials of Murder is the first book in this cozy mystery series featuring main character Carissa as she returns to her home town to start her own aromatherapy and reflexology shop. I hadn’t read a book about that type of shop before and thought it sounded like a fun theme for a cozy mystery series. I liked learning more about aromatherapy and reflexology during this book and seeing Carissa prepare her shop for her grand opening.
The mystery in this one didn’t fully work for me. The victim is murdered in Carissa’s shop and the main detective has it out for her. So it made sense for her to get involved. I also thought it was interesting how her father is the chief of police as that added a different dynamic and connection with the police than in most cozies. Her father isn’t the one running the investigation and the detective seems determined to blame Carissa for the murder. I am not a fan of the incompetent cop trope in cozies and I didn’t like that trope here, but it’s also clear it’s not just him being incompetent, but that there is more behind it. Which slowly comes to light over the course of the book.
There are multiple suspects and I liked learning more, but I just wasn’t as invested in the mystery. I didn’t always like the way Carissa interviewed people and tried to get answers. And so many of the suspects she talks to are rude or just not nice or interesting characters to read about. I wasn’t too surprised by who had done it, but there was a twist that was interesting and how it tied in with a plot line.
I liked the daily life scenes and getting to know Carissa and her shop. I also liked reading about the people she hired to help her in the shop as well as her mentor and friends who supports her while she’s setting up the shop. It was interesting and fun to read about the shop and I am looking forward to reading more about it once it’s actually open in the next book. A lot of the characters have some background that comes to light during the story and it made them feel real with their own lives and things that happened before this book. There’s a romance plot line as well, which I liked well enough, except for the conflict later in the book and how Carissa handled that, but I am curious to see where that goes next.
The narrator was a new one to me and I enjoyed listening to it and the way she narrated the book and did the different voices was well done.
To summarize: I enjoyed this first book in this cozy mystery series. The aromatherapy and reflexology shop was interesting to read about as I knew almost nothing about that topic. I liked reading about Carissa and her daily life and shop. As well as the people she has around her and who help her, they all have their own backstory and I liked how this made them feel real. There’s also a set up for a romance and I liked it well enough so far, but wasn’t a fan of the conflict and how Carissa handled that. The mystery didn’t fully work for me and wasn’t as interesting. I also didn’t always like the way Carissa investigated and talked to suspects. The murderer wasn’t a big surprise, but there was an interesting twist. I look forward to continuing the series.
I’ve been in an aromatherapy shop, but neat how it was the site of a mystery and her father is the police chief. You’re review has me curious about this one.
That’s neat you’ve been to an aromatherapy shop and know what they look like. I thought it was a fun theme for this book and I look forward to the next book.