Leila Khoury left Vermont after a broken engagement,
intending not to return. Her father’s
murder brought her back to Sugar Ridge, at least temporarily. She plans to go back to her teaching job in
Florida but her father’s will changes all that:
he has left Sarah his farm and business, asking that she work it for at
least one year before she decides to sell. Sarah is shocked; she’d thought if
Sappy Endings was to be left to anyone, it would have been either her mother or
her brother Simon. It’s not as if she had helped her father a lot at the maple
sugar farm, or knew about tapping trees.
Still, her father wanted her to try and Leila wants
to find out who killed him. It looks like a robbery gone bad, but some things
puzzle her enough to start asking questions—and maybe drawing out a killer.
This is the first in the Maple Syrup Mysteries, which means it can be a little uneven. First in series books have a lot of territory
to cover: setting has to be established,
characters introduced, and of course there has to be a mystery to be
solved. I tend to cut such books some
slack. I like the basic premise. The
maple syrup process is interesting. I especially
that Leila and her family are of Lebanese descent; I enjoy the little touches
of another culture, revealed mostly through food. I also liked the complicated
relationship between Leila and her mother and the slight progress they have
made toward reconciliation. I also adore
Toast the cat.
What I didn’t particularly care for what the way
Leila kept jumping to conclusions and accusing everyone. That got old pretty fast. It’s often a cozy
feature but not one I care for. She also
let her insecurities cause a lot of friction with her family and her
employees. I’m hoping she will have it a
bit more together in the next book.
Finally, I had some quibbles about the ending but
overall, it’s a good effort and I’ll be looking forward to the next in the
series.
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