Muffins and Murder in Sunset Cove by Elly Grey

Item: Muffins and Murder in Sunset Cove
Rating: 3
Author: BaronessMom

Posted March 26, 2026 by BaronessMom in Mystery, Novella, Review / 0 Comments

Muffins and Murder in Sunset Cove

by Elly Grey

Series: Sunset Chronicles Murder Mystery #1
Series Rating:

Published by Independently Published on June 30, 2025
Setting: Maine
Genres: Cozy Animal Mystery
Pages: 80
Format: Kindle, Paperback
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon

A cryptic message. A body on the bluff. A coastal town full of secrets.

When private investigator Rosalind Harper returns to Sunset Cove, Maine to visit her Aunt Ivy, she stumbles onto a murder steeped in family secrets and old betrayals.

The victim?

Earl “Big Rig” Dalton—owner of a local chop-shop and a man with no shortage of enemies. Suspects abound: the smooth-talking Mayor Whitlock, whose land deals Big Rig may have threatened, and Rosalind’s best friend Megan, a nosy amateur sleuth who was warned to stop poking around in town records.

With help from a brooding detective, a brilliant tech sidekick, and her aunt’s unnervingly perceptive Maine Coon cat, Perry (as in, Mason), Rosalind begins to untangle a mystery far messier than expected.

But as secrets rise to the surface, Rosalind must confront a past others tried to bury—and a killer who’s much closer than she thinks.

If she doesn’t solve this fast, she may be the next victim.

Muffins and Murder in Sunset Cove by Elly Grey is a super quick mystery that introduces the Sunset Chronicles Murder Mysteries.

Will Rosalind figure out what is happening in Sunset Cove?

Our investigators are Rosalind Harper and Perry (as in Mason), the Maine Coon. Most of her friends call her Roz. These two are joined by a Police detective and Roz’s friend, Megan. The mystery revolves around Roz’s, Aunt Ivy, and her past.

The mystery is good, but it jumps around a lot, sometimes with a lapse between scenes. I hope the author figures it out before the first book came out. I am hoping to read at least one to see if Ms. Grey got it worked out.

The story is really short and mostly sets up the upcoming series and the author’s plans for the series she is planning to write. It does include some character introductions and a map of the town. There is a recipe for Aunt Ivy’s Cranberry-Orange Muffins.

My rating for Muffins and Murder in Sunset Cove by Elly Grey is three stars. I like that the author tried to give us a backstory for Roz and Perry. Yet, I wish she had spent more time on the structure of the book; it felt choppy at times.

Sunset Chronicles Murder Mystery

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Muffins and Murder in Sunset Cove by Elly Grey.

Until the next time,

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About Elly Grey

Elly Grey is a retired nonprofit director turned cozy mystery author who writes twisty seaside whodunits filled with red herrings, quirky sidekicks, and small-town secrets.

Her sleuthing sidekick? Perry, a clever Maine Coon cat with a nose for trouble and a talent for stealing scenes. In real life, Elly shares her writing chair with Leroy Selmon, her own Maine Coon, who inspires Perry’s sass and intuition.

When not plotting the next Sunset Chronicles mystery, she’s watching Perry Mason reruns, beachcombing for sea glass, or penning her next newsletter with a cup of tea and a cat by her side.

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