Murder at the Taffy Shop (Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery #2)
by Maddie Day
Narrated by Rachel Dulude
My Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF
Blurb:
Cape Cod bicycle shop owner Mackenzie “Mac” Almeida and her mystery book club find a certain accusation of murder quite the stretch . . .When your mother is an astrologist and your dad is a minister, you learn to keep an open mind. Which is just what Mac loves to do—exercise her mind by puzzling out fictional clues in the mystery novels she reads and discusses with her Cozy Capers Book Group.
But now Mac’s friend Gin has found herself in a sticky situation. After wealthy genealogist Beverly Ruchart is found dead outside Gin’s taffy shop, the candy maker becomes a person of interest. When it’s revealed that Beverly was poisoned the night Gin brought a box of taffy to a dinner party at Beverly’s house, she’s bumped to the top of the suspects list. It’s up to Mac and her Cozy Capers crime solvers to unwrap this real-life mystery. But this time they might have bitten off more than they can chew . . .
My Review
I received a free copy from Tantor Audio and voluntarily reviewed it.
I read the first book in this series and then for the second book I ended up deciding to switch to audio. This series is narrated by Rachel Dulude who is one of my favorite narrators so far, so I decided to go to audio. It took me a bit of time early on in this book to make the switch and get used to how everyone sounded, but once I was through the first few chapters I was into the story and the audio worked great for this book.
In Murder at the Taffy Shop Mac and her friends have another mystery to solve. Beverly, a women who not many people liked, is killed and Gin and Mac find her body. Gin becomes a suspect in the murder while Mac and the rest of the cozy capers book group get involved in trying to solve the mystery. I liked the mystery, there were some possible suspects from the start, but I wasn’t quite sure who did it. I liked how we got more pieces of the mystery and suspects, but no suspects can be crossed off till the end when we find out who the murderer is. I wasn’t surprised by who the murderer was, but it was great seeing it play out. I didn’t really care for how the detective kept telling Mac not to get involved and how Mac kinda went back and forth on investigating or not, even though it felt realistic. I liked how it all came together at the end and how the danger scene at the end got resolved.
I liked reading this book, just like Maddie Day’s other series it has a nice mix between the real life and events and the mystery. I enjoy reading about Mac’s daily life and her job running her bike shop. In this book she and her boyfriend Tim are struggling with a decision about their future and whether to take kids or not. Tim wants kids, but Mac isn’t sure. I found Tim could act a bit harsh at times and I am still not sure whether I like the romance or am hoping she ends up with someone else. I am a bit frustrated that this plot line didn’t get resolved as I wanted to know in which direction things are going. I thought the last chapter would resolve it, but it didn’t. They do patch things up, but no final decisions is made.
There is a wonderful group of side characters. Mac has a whole family around her, her mother and father as well as her brother and niece. Then there are the cozy capers book club members and her engineer in the store. She also has a parrot called Belle, who is so fun to read about. It’s not difficult remembering who is who as everyone has their own personality, although there certainly are a lot of characters especially when you add in the murder suspects.
I am glad I switched to the audio version. I like how Rachel Dulude narrated this one and the way she does the voices for all the characters. I like how the voices fit the characters and things like her niece who talks with a lisp or the way the parrot talks all add some flavor to the book. I really enjoyed the audio version of this book and will be continuing the rest of the series in audio if possible.
To summarize: This was a great book. I liked the mix of daily life and the murder mystery. The mystery was interesting with a few clear suspects, the mystery moves forward, but no gets scrapped of the list till the reveal at the end. I wasn’t surprised at who had done it, but it was great to see how things played out. I like reading about Mac and her work at the bike shop and seeing her interact with her friends and family. I am still on the fence about the romance and in this book she and Tim argue a bit, sadly by the end of the book I am still not sure what Mac decides. There are a lot of characters and it’s fun to read about them. I especially liked Mac’s parrot Belle. I am glad I switched to audio for this series as I really enjoyed listening to this one. I liked the different voices for the characters that the narrator did and it was pleasant to listen to this one.
Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– Audible
– B&N
– Kobo
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