It is the first day of June, and summer weather has put on an appearance in Calgary this week (despite the snow last weekend!) A new month means I am starting on a new book. I hope you enjoyed my Read Your Way Through May booklist and last week’s post on Reading About Characters with Mental Illness. Make sure you check back here this weekend for a new freebie roundup!
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.
I think this is the first time I have read something from Connie Shelton’s Samantha Sweet Mysteries. Bitter Sweet is book #5, but you will have no problem understanding who the players are or what is going on. It is a self-contained mystery like most of the cozy or traditional mysteries that you have read.
This one has just a hint of paranormal in it. Samantha Sweet is not a witch or a psychic like Reg Rawlins, but has a magical little box that gives her extra energy or insight when she is at the end of her rope. That would be a nice thing to have around some days!
Nicely developed characters and setting, plenty of clues and cake-building details, Bitter Sweet is a mystery that you can really dig your teeth into.
“What are you doing?” The sharp voice startled Sam and she nearly dropped the key. She spun around, knowing she looked guilty as hell.
Connie Shelton, Bitter Sweet
In this fifth installment in the Samantha Sweet mystery series, it’s the height of the wedding season at Sweet’s Sweets and Sam has all she can do to stay ahead of the rush of bakery orders. Plus, her side job—breaking into houses—isn’t allowing much summer time off either. Not to mention that her mother is pressuring Sam and Beau to set their wedding date.
When Sam encounters two older women who then die suddenly, it appears that there may be a serial killer on the loose. Sam and Beau are shocked to consider that Beau’s own mother may have been an earlier victim of someone who operates by preying on the women’s trusting natures. As they begin to investigate, a number of suspects emerge and it looks like someone is out to keep Sam quiet.
