Guest Post: Jeanne and Treadmill Books: Flipped for Murder by Maddie Day

Please welcome back Jeanne of the BPL to the blog today…

Treadmill Book:  Flipped for Murder by Maddie Day

 

Mass Market Paperback

Roberta “Robbie” Jordan is prepping for the grand opening of her restaurant/store, Pans ‘n Pancakes in little South Lick, Indiana.  Although her mother was a Hoosier, Robbie grew up in California; after her mother’s death, a visit to her Aunt Adele made her want to try small town life for a while, especially after finding a charming and affordable place to start her own business. 

Not that it was without a bit of a struggle.  Stella Rogers, the assistant to the mayor, seemed to be working overtime to put the brakes on Robbie’s plans, but then Stella is not the nicest of people.  Still, it comes as a bit of a surprise when Stella turns up dead with one of Robbie’s signature biscuits in her mouth. . . .

This is the first in the Country Store Mystery series and certainly shows promise while sticking to the standard cozy formula.  Truthfully, I found the backstory about Robbie’s father to be more compelling than the boilerplate mystery, and that thread will apparently run through future mysteries. The characters are likeable enough, except for those who aren’t supposed to be --and those are cozy –dreadful, i.e. people whose lives are devoted to making others miserable for no particular reason except that it makes them dandy villains and even dandier victims. The investigating officer is pleasant, but amazingly enough Robbie is able to uncover information about the locals that the life-long resident lawman didn’t know.

 

Audio CD

I did have some quibbles—fathers are apparently doomed in Indiana, as there were three fatherless characters introduced in the first few chapters—but the big one was the casual way in which one character’s actions are dismissed. Even though he fires a gun at Robbie and is later found lurking in her apartment with a gun, he’s considered harmless. Ooooookay. There’s a standard issue love interest, a plucky senior citizen or two, and some local color.

I will be interested to see how Robbie’s family drama plays out, so I will probably pick up more books in the series.  This is, after all, a first in series book and sometimes the rough edges smooth out after the characters and setting have been introduced.

Also, there is a sweet cat.  That counts for a lot with me.

Books in the series:

Flipped for Murder

Grilled for Murder

When The Grits Hit the Fan

Biscuits and Slashed Browns

Death Over Easy

Strangled Eggs and Ham (June 2019)