A Corpse at the Witching Hour by Debra Sennefelder

Item: A Corpse at the Witching Hour
Rating: 5
Author: karenbaron

Posted November 14, 2024 by karenbaron in #BookishRecipe, #HalloweenWithTheBaroness, Mystery, Review, Series / 0 Comments

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A Corpse at the Witching Hour

by Debra Sennefelder

Series: Food Blogger Mysteries #6
Series Rating:

Published by Beyond the Page on October 5, 2023
Setting: Jefferson, Connecticut
Genres: Cozy Culinary Holiday Mystery
Pages: 276
Format: Kindle, Paperback
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
Bookhype
BookBub
Storygraph
Get Your Copy at: Amazon
Also in this series: The Hidden Corpse, Three Widows and a Corpse , The Corpse Who Knew Too Much, The Corpse in the Gazebo

Hope Early has to contend with ghosts, a fatal curse, and a decades-old family secret to catch a killer in the new Food Blogger Mystery . . .

When her best friend’s Aunt Issy falls ill, food blogger Hope Early agrees to help him hand out Halloween candy at his aunt’s house, which is rumored to be cursed. A murder-suicide took place there a century ago, and legend has it that a woman has died there every twenty years since—on Halloween. Hope doesn’t really believe in curses or ghosts, but when all the trick-or-treaters are gone and she discovers a woman’s dead body on the front lawn, she wonders if the curse might be real after all.

Then Hope and her friend discover a cache of love letters linking the dead woman to Aunt Issy’s husband years ago, and Hope is certain they’ve uncovered the motive for murder—and the police are certain Aunt Issy is their main suspect. Determined to prove Issy’s innocence and nab the real culprit, Hope starts shaking other branches of the family tree. But she forgets that Halloween isn’t the only day people hide behind masks, and if she’s not careful, Hope will come face-to-face with a ghoulish fiend who’s not afraid to kill again . . .

Includes two tasty recipes!

A Corpse at the Witching Hour by Debra Sennefelder shows Hope handing out candy with Drew, but the night doesn’t end with everyone happy with their candy.

Will Hope keep Issy out of the line of fire with the police?

Hope Early

Hope Early is excited about her plans to help out her best friend, Drew, by handing out candy at his aunt Issy’s house this Halloween night. Drew’s aunt is sick and cannot hand out candy to all the kids who will come to see her house. Hope is a fantastic character who wants to help her friends by solving a mystery if the police are questioning them. I love how she is so organized and has her blog posts all ready to go. Hope has a knack for solving mysteries that, even with Ethan’s help from the police station, can’t get answers like she does.

I also like how Hope interacts with Ethan and his kids, and I can’t wait to read more about that dynamic.

The Mystery

Hope Early was out on Issy’s lawn to pick up any candy wrappers or anything like that after a night of catering to a lot of trick-or-treaters when she found a dead body on the lawn. There is a whirlwind of finding evidence, and the police suspect Issy of killing the dead woman. Since Hope doesn’t want to see a dear friend go to jail, she starts investigating. Our sleuth finds out so much about Drew’s family while trying to keep Issy out of jail. I have to say that I didn’t expect two different mysteries and not who the killer was. The killer wasn’t even on my radar.

Five Stars

My rating for A Corpse at the Witching Hour by Debra Sennefelder is five stars. I also recommend this whole series to anyone who likes cozy culinary reads with recipes in the back. Ms. Sennefelder has done an excellent job of making the killer a surprise to her audience. This author is an amazing writer, and I love all these books. I can’t wait to see where else Hope ends up going.

Don’t forget to check out the recipes in the back. They are Pumpkin Bars with Chocolate Chips, and Banana Nut Muffins with Crumb Topping.

Food Blogger Mysteries

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of A Corpse at the Witching Hour by Debra Sennefelder.

Until the next time,

Happy Reading!

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About Debra Sennefelder

Debra Sennefelder, the author of the Food Blogger Mystery series and the Resale Boutique Mystery series, is an avid reader who reads across a range of genres, but mystery fiction is her obsession. Her interest in people and relationships is channeled into her novels against a backdrop of crime and mystery. When she’s not reading, she enjoys cooking and baking and as a former food blogger, she is constantly taking photographs of her food. Yeah, she’s that person.

Born and raised in New York City, she now lives and writes in Connecticut with her family. She’s worked in pre-hospital care, retail and publishing. Her writing companions are her adorable and slightly spoiled Shih-Tzus, Susie and Billy.

She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Women’s Fiction Writers Association and Romance Writers of America.

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