Review: Flipped for Murder by Maddie Day

Posted October 24, 2015 by Lola in Mystery, Review, Romance / 20 Comments

LolaReview

Flipped for MurderFlipped for Murder (Country Store Mysteries #1)
by Maddie Day

Blurb:
In this freshly baked series, author Maddie Day lifts the lid on a small town in southern Indiana, where a newcomer is cooking up a new start–until a murderer muddles the recipe…

Nursing a broken heart, Robbie Jordan is trading in her life on the West Coast for the rolling hills of southern Indiana. After paying a visit to her Aunt Adele, she fell in love with the tiny town of South Lick. And when she spots a For Sale sign on a rundown country store, she decides to snap it up and put her skills as a cook and a carpenter to use. Everyone in town shows up for the grand re-opening of Pans β€˜n Pancakes, but when the mayor’s disagreeable assistant is found dead, Robbie realizes that not all press is good press. With all eyes on her, she’ll have to summon her puzzle-solving skills to clear her name, unscramble the town’s darkest secrets, and track down a cold-blooded killer–before she’s the next to die…

My Review:
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review

Flipped for Murder is a great cozy mystery, once I started the book I knew I was going to enjoy it. The main character Robbie owns her own restaurant and shop, where she sells vintage cookware and breakfast and lunch. I immediately liked Robbie and share her love for cooking. We get a short introduction before the murder mystery starts and there are a lot of other plot lines and side plots too. This book was just a lot of fun and had me invested in all the storylines. I had a hard time putting it down as I wanted to read more.

The mystery was well done, although I did suspect who was the murdered from early on as there are enough hints. There are also enough hints to other people so that does throw you off a bit and with more things going on, there’s more to uncover than just who murdered Stella. I liked how Stella was such an unlikeable person that many people had a motive to want her death, which made it hard at first to figure out who had murdered her. There is also a bit of a family mystery and history that get’s uncovered piece by piece and a bit of romance that slowly builds form the beginning. It all worked well together.

I liked Robbie from the moment I started this book, I love cooking and baking and reading about a character who owns her own shop and sells breakfast and lunch to people was a lot of fun. I have a weak spot to restaurant type stories as I love reading about all the yummy food. She was a great main character and she acted realistically. She didn’t go an try to solve the murder herself, but she did try and talk to other people to find out what they knew and asked the police guy how the investigation as going as the murderer is trying the frame her. And she did think and puzzle about the murder a lot and in the end helped uncover the murderer.

There is a bit of romance going that’s set up from the first chapter already, they go on a few dates and kiss, but it doesn’t fully grown into a relationship yet. There’s also a hint of another guy who’s interested in her. So it will be interesting to see how that all turns out in the next book. The romance was nice and I liked how it slowly build, but as it is a sideplot, it did stay a bit flat. I did like it though and thought it fit well into the story.

The small town setting was really well done and I liked how the town came alive, especially during a scene towards the end where they al come visit a fund-raiser where everyone helps a bit and everyone knows everyone else. It was fun to see. Then add in the autumn season and the tourist who came leaf watching and I really enjoyed seeing the city come alive. There are also interpersonal relationships and it was fun to see how they all interacted. The side characters all have their own personalities, they focus isn’t on them and I would like to learn more about some of them, but I did think the author did a great job making the town feel alive. Although at times I forgot who was who as there are a lot of side characters who play a role, but usually after a few sentences I got reminded who the character was again.

To summarize: I really enjoyed Flipped For Murder, it had a fun murder mystery and some other plot lines going on at the same time. I did predict who was the murdered earlier than it was announced in the book, but there were enough possible culprits to still make it fun. I really liked the main character and the restaurant and shop setting. the small town setting came alive with a fun cast of character who each had a bit of their own personality, although I did forget at times who was who as there are so many side characters. This is a great cozy mystery and I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

4-star

Links:
Goodreads
Amazon
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What hobbies, besides reading, make it easier for you to connect to the main character in a book?

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20 responses to “Review: Flipped for Murder by Maddie Day

    • It really helped to have a shared hobby with the main character and I instantly connected with her because of that. And I just love that small town feel in books.

    • I finally got around to trying a few this year, they can be a lot of fun. The mystery isn’t as dark as in normal mystery books. And they often have a small town settings. I have seen some books around about horses and snwoboarding, but volunteering at a zoo isn’t something I encoutnered in a book so far. It would make for a fun hobby to a main characters in a book as well. I always love visiting zoo’s and seeing all the animals.

    • It’s a fun cozy mystery and the addition of the main character who runs her own restaurant really worked for me. I am looking forward to the next book in the series!

    • I haven’t yet read a book that has rats, but that definitely would make me connect with the main characetrs instantly if she has rats. I still miss our rats so much. I never read a lot of mysteries, but I am trying to read more of them this year and so far I am enjoying the genre.

  1. Sounds like a really fun cozy mystery. That cover is also very cute.
    What I love to read in books are characters who are a little like me. They don’t have to like everything I do.. but I love reading about characters that love to read and the comfort of their own home. They really make me connect with the story more. But sometimes reading about a character who is nothing like me, is also great.. Just to get a feel about how life could be if I was different. πŸ˜€
    Maureen Hinten recently posted…Promotional Blast ‘The Ripper Gene’ by Michael RansomMy Profile

    • The covers for cozy mysteries are often really cute. I especially like the cat and how the restaurant looks like it is described in the book. To share a few characteristics or hobbies with the main character sure makes it easier to like them and relate to them. Reading about very different characters can also be interesting indeed.
      Lola recently posted…Review: Flipped for Murder by Maddie DayMy Profile

  2. This does sound good. I love stories set in small towns and mysteries are always welcome.

    It’s fun when a character shares my hobbies: reading, writing, gardening, research, cooking, nature walks, but I like to learn about new hobbies, too, so that can be fun.

    • The small town settign cobmined with mysteries is one of the things I like about cozy mysteries. Same here, it’s fun to share a hobby that you do yourself with the main character, but I also like learning about new hobbies and things I didn’t know. Both options have their own appeal.
      Lola recently posted…Review: Flipped for Murder by Maddie DayMy Profile

    • I have weeks where I bake less, but nowadays I try to make at least one thing each week. This week I am going to try making pumpkin pie, they don’t sell it here, so no idea how it’s supposed to taste, but it soudns delicious!
      I love when there’s cooking and baking in a book. The mystery aspect was a bit predictable, but I did had fun figuring it out.

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