Thank you to the authors, publishers, and/or NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairings found on my Instagram feed are of my own doing.
Scone Cold Dead
A Country Store Mystery
Maddie Day
Book 13 of the Country Store Mysteries comes with many changes looming on the horizon for more than one of the residents of South Lick, Indiana. If this is your first time picking up a Maddie Day cozy mystery you are in for a treat with both the mystery and the sweet and savory recipes found at the conclusion of the story. Don't worry if you "met" Robbie Jordan before now, she is easy to like and makes some great meals in her Pans and Pancakes, breakfast and lunch country store. Each book can be read as a stand-alone mystery with plenty of descriptions and back story to keep the reader from getting lost amidst the characters or clues.
Robbie is usually elbow deep in pancake prep or up to her neck in a murder mystery, but things have changed in the last eight or so months. In the previous book, Deep Friend Death, Robbie learned that she and her husband, Abe were going to be parents, and it changed Robbie's perspective on sleuthing. She became much more careful, thinking of her welfare or rather her baby's welfare, not that she has ever been one of those folks who are "too dumb to live." This time around we continue to see this same cautious attitude. Robbie steers away from the dark alleys but not from asking the hard and sometimes intrusive questions or brainstorming scenarios with local law enforcement.
Speaking of local law enforcement, Chief Buck Bird, has quite a way with words. This time around, I think that my favorite Buck saying was "you musta been scareder than a sinner in a cyclone." It is the characters who really add the flavor to this series. There is a unique blend of people of different ages such as Robbie's aunt Adele, who finds a dead body of a man she once knew, in the goat pasture. There are young people too, like Robbie's coworkers, Danna Beedle and Turner Rao. Danna, Mayor Corrine's daughter, has red dreadlocks and a flair for colorful clothes. Turner literally adds Southeast Asian flavor to the dishes he cooks. Even the "guest stars" bring interesting aspects to the stories. This time around, a man comes to town, a man who, to Buck, looks like he has been in the criminal justice system. And not on the side of the law." A man who is asking for Adele, who seems to be known by several of the regulars, someone who incites strong emotions. Obviously, this man is going to be the victim and there are plenty of good suspects and some not so good. Adele is not a good suspect but because she has history with Ivan, and he was found in her pasture, Robbie will need to start asking questions.
Robbie asks great questions, the kind of questions that kept me turning pages to find out what the answers were going to be. The clues are so well placed and the herrings so red that I was completely caught off guard by the solution. I was coming up with scenarios like Robbie that sometimes seemed a little more over the top than the one before it. My attention was held all the way to the end and then I got to enjoy some delicious Pecan Scones which I have pictured below. I also made the fajitas, because who doesn't like fajitas. I am looking forward to trying the Apple Cider Muffins, and just maybe, all of these great recipes will help to hold me over until the next Country Store Mystery.
