Rocky Road to Ruin by Meri Allen

The Rocky Road to Ruin

by Meri Allen

Series: Ice Cream Shop Mystery #1
Series Rating:
Published by St. Martin's Paperbacks on July 27, 2021
Setting: Penniman, Connecticut
Genres: Cozy Culinary Mystery
Pages: 341
Format: Audible Audiobook, ebook, Kindle, Paperback
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon

Justice will be swirled by amateur sleuth Riley Rhodes in the first in Meri Allen's brand-new mystery series!

Riley Rhodes, travel food blogger and librarian at the CIA, makes a bittersweet return to her childhood home of Penniman, Connecticut - land of dairy farms and covered bridges - for a funeral. Despite the circumstances, Riley's trip home is sprinkled with reunions with old friends, visits to her father's cozy bookshop on the town green, and joyful hours behind the counter at the beloved Udderly Delicious Ice Cream Shop. It feels like a time to help her friend Caroline rebuild after her mother's death, and for Riley to do a bit of her own reflecting after a botched undercover mission in Italy. After all, it's always good to be home.

But Caroline and her brother Mike have to decide what to do with the assets they've inherited - the ice cream shop as well as the farm they grew up on - and they've never seen eye to eye. Trouble begins to swirl as Riley is spooked by reports of a stranger camping behind the farm and by the odd behavior of the shop's mascot, Caroline's snooty Persian, Sprinkles. When Mike turns up dead in the barn the morning after the funeral, the peace and quiet of Penniman seems upended for good. Can Riley find the killer before another body gets scooped?

Rocky Road to Ruin by Meri Allen is a fantastic mystery that I couldn’t get out of my head.

Will Riley find happiness in her hometown? Will Riley’s best friend be charged with her brother’s murder?

Riley Rhodes

Our sleuth is Riley, who is a librarian for the CIA. She travels with her job and has a traveling food blog, too. But after an incident in her last post, she thinks she needs a change. Staying in her hometown of Pennimann, Connecticut, and working as the local ice cream shop manager may be the answer.

I like Riley. She has excellent instincts and is loyal to her friends and family. Riley is analytical and curious. I love how she handles investigating head first but after her job is done. She is creative but not good at lying. Riley runs to clear her head, but honestly, it was to snoop…I mean, investigate.

The Mystery

We have a few things going on as life is constantly moving. First, there is the murder of Michael Spooner. Attached to that is, where is his girlfriend? As we circulate through the suspects and clues, two more mysteries appear from the past. One is the suicide of a teenage girl who would be the same age as Mike. The second is the hit-and-run of a local midwife around the same time as the girl’s suicide. Also, we have someone camping and lighting fires around the area and the arson of a local man’s house. Are they all connected? That is what Riley and the police are trying to figure out.

I recalled a proverb I’d heard from a rug merchant in Morrocco: “Man plans, God laughs.”

Five Stars

I love it! My rating for Rocky Road to Ruin by Meri Allen is five stars. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Even while watching television with my family, I continued to run through the suspects in my mind. Riley is good at compartmentalizing everything. I am not. I even wrote my own suspect list before Riley did. Mine was a bit longer as I included people that she didn’t. We both got to the same conclusion, me a tad bit faster. In Riley’s defense, she had a ton of sunflower ice cream to make, and I obviously didn’t.

I highly recommend this book. If you love cozy culinary mysteries, this is a fabulous one for you.

Two recipes are included in the book: Sunflower Ice Cream and Buzzy’s Ulitmate Frozen Margarita.

Ice Cream Shop Mystery Series

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Rocky Road to Ruin by Meri Allen.

Until the next time,

 

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• Jenz 2022 Six Shooter RC
• Jenz 2023 Beachcombers Mystery RC
• Jenz 2023 Cloak and Dagger
• Jenz 2023 Craving the Cozies
• Jenz 2023 Cruisin' thru the Cozies
• Jenz 2023 Goodreads RC
• Jenz 2023 Medical Examiner RC

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