Summary:
Tales and Treats, a new book store in tiny Scumble River, opens to protesters and ridicule. Skye is happy to see not only a new business in town, but one that she plans to frequent regularly. The town's business owners are none too pleased, though. The library, which already has low circulation rates, might be visited less thanks to all those shiny new books. Skye's cousin might have to actually move all his used cars for sale back onto his lot rather than parking them in the public spaces that were previously under-used. The diner might lose its morning customers to the bookstore's fancy new bakery/barista. And one of the ancient and tenured teachers protests the store because it sells smut in the form of romance novels, and could possibly foster witchcraft and sorcery in the form of fantasy and sci-fi novels. Heaven forbid! Then, of course, there's the murder in the bookstore. Was it one of Scumble River's loudest complainers, or someone the owners knew from long ago? Skye's too nosy not to get into the mix once again, not to mention dealing with her ex who still won't give up, even after she's said yes to Wally's marriage proposal. The ex wouldn't be too much of an issue usually, but this time he knows something about the details surrounding the murder that he begs her not to pass on to her cop fiance. Good plan, Skye? Don't bet on it.
Thoughts:
Finally, the title doesn't completely give away the murder victim on sight! Every other installment of this series that's had a noun that's often used as a name as well (Honey, Cookie, Cherry, Barbie and Ken, Belle, and even Snake) has been the name of the victim of the primary crime in the book. Congratulations, Ms. Swanson, you had me looking for a woman named Babe to kill off. (PS, it looks like the next novel in the series goes back to the same old song... "Murder of a Creped Suzette" looks like they're going to kill off a poor girl named Suzette, and we can't do a thing to stop it!) But I digress. The book follows as most of the rest do, and I did actually spot the possible ending a mile away, but with all the other red herrings swimming around, I almost forgot about the initial inkling of our murderer's identity.
I will say, I'm ready for Skye to get herself married off and done with Simon for good. Her ex-boyfriend vowed two books ago that he'll never rest until she's his again. Holy cow, guy, get over yourself. She's happy and committed to someone else. The worst part is that Skye's dumb enough to agree to keeping a secret from Wally. When has keeping secrets from your significant other ever ended well for anyone, Skye? Especially when it's the ex-boyfriend that's asking you to keep the secret. Dumb Skye Move #286, right there.
All in all, though, another fun romp through crazy-ass Scumble River. Not Swanson's best, but certainly not her worst. And finally, after Suzette's murder investigation, I'll be caught up with Swanson's series, and can move on to others that I've still not cracked the covers of, and you, dear readers, can see a change of pace for once! Good news, though, I've almost finished my next read, which was something completely different. Stay tuned!
Book 5 of 50
Pages: 243
Genre: Mystery, romance
Grade: B-
Would I Recommend?: Sure. There are worse books out there, and even worse ones in this series. Keep going in the series. It's good for you!
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