I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from Great Escapes Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Sifting Through Clues
by Daryl Wood Gerber
Series: Cookbook Nook Mystery #8
Series Rating:
Published by Beyond the Page on April 23, 2019
Genres: Mystery
Pages: 235
Format: Kindle
Source: Great Escapes Book Tours
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Book clubs from all over have descended on Crystal Cove to celebrate the library’s Book Club Bonanza week, and Jenna Hart has packed the Cookbook Nook with juicy reads and tasty cookbooks. But she’s most excited about spending an evening with the Mystery Mavens and their moveable feast, when they will go from house to house to share different culinary treats and discuss the whodunit they’re all reading. It’s all good food and fun for the savvy armchair detectives, until one of the members of the group is found murdered at the last stop on the tour.As if that weren’t enough to spoil her appetite, Jenna discovers that all the evidence points to her friend Pepper as being the guilty party. And with Pepper’s chief-of-police daughter too close to the case to be impartial, Jenna knows she’ll have to step in to help clear her friend’s name before a bitter injustice sends her to jail. Sifting through the clues, Jenna unearths any number of possible culprits, but she’ll have to cook up a new way to catch the killer before Pepper’s goose is cooked . . .
Spring has sprung in Crystal Cove, California
Sifting Through the Clues by Daryl Wood Gerber is the eighth book in this fantastic series that I wish I found earlier. The whole cast of characters was excellent, and I liked every minute of reading about their lives. Ms. Gerber has a great series on her hands. I can’t wait to read the next novel. This book has a bunch of twists and turns in it which made trying to figure out whodunit even harder.
What I like:
- Written in first person narrative works so well in this novel and I loved it. We get to know more about the main character, and I liked being able to learn about her this way. We also get to try to solve it through her eyes and see if we can solve it first.
- For the brief moments, we get to meet Tigger, this fantastic cat. He knows how to make anyone happy just by being near them.
- The sleuth and the cop on the force are different here, and I love it. Jenna has it two ways. Her aunt is dating a cop, and of course, her best friend is the chief of police.
- I loved the high tea and mentions of food in here since it is a culinary cozy. The recipes in the book sound so good, I can’t wait to try some.
- That despite everything that has happened in the past books that Cinnamon, the chief of police, wants Jenna’s help and that they have a good friendship.
What I don’t like:
That I didn’t find this series earlier. I am a bit peeved at myself for not figuring it out who did it since I am pretty good at that, but I got so lost in all the red herrings. Though I didn’t like that Jenna didn’t try to talk to Cinnamon faster about her findings.
Five Star
Sifting Through the Clues by Daryl Wood Gerber is a brilliant book, and I was so happy to get acquainted with this small town of Crystal Cove, California and its crazy citizens. I am putting the first seven of these books on my TBR list. I am giving it a five-star rating and recommending it to anyone that likes cozy mysteries with a culinary kick.
There are recipes in the back of this book. I love how they are divided into two different categories called Sweet and Savory. On the Sweet list, we have Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes, Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes (Gluten-Free Version), Cinnamon Madeleines, Lemon Tea Cakes (a la the Sweet Pea), Lemon Tea Cakes (Gluten-Free Version), Nutmeg Cookies, and Nutmeg Cookies (Gluten-Free Version). On the Savory list, we have Chicken Almond Tea Sandwiches, Chicken Tortilla Individual Ramekins, Cucumber Tea Sandwiches, Curried Egg Tea Sandwiches, Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Tea Sandwiches, Pear and Cheese Tea Sandwiches, Mascarpone Stilton Cheese Appetizer, Raita Appetizer, Savory Cheddar Scone, and Whitefish Tea Sandwiches.
Other Book in the Series:
Tour Schedule
April 15 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
April 15 – Community Bookstop – REVIEW
April 15 – Here’s How It Happened – SPOTLIGHT
April 15 – A Holland Reads – REVIEW
April 15 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
April 16 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, GUEST POST – RECIPE – INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
April 16 – Carstairs Considers – REVIEW
April 16 – The Power of Words – REVIEW
April 16 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW
April 16 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
April 16 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW – INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
April 17 – Valerie’s Musings – REVIEW
April 17 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
April 17 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – SPOTLIGHT
April 17 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
April 17 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW, GUEST POST – RECIPE – INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
April 17 – Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 18 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
April 18 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
April 18 – Sneaky the Library Cat’s Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
April 18 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
April 18 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW
April 19 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW, GUEST POST – RECIPE – INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
April 19 – The Book’s the Thing – REVIEW
April 19 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 19 – MJB Reviewers – AUTHOR INTERVIEW – INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
April 19 – A Chick Who Reads – REVIEW
April 19 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 20 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
April 20 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
April 20 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW – INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
April 20 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 21 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW, GUEST POST – RECIPE – INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
April 21 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW
April 21 – Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT
April 21 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
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About Daryl Wood Gerber
Agatha Award-winning author Daryl Wood Gerber is best known for her nationally bestselling Fairy Garden Mysteries, Cookbook Nook Mysteries, and French Bistro Mysteries. As Avery Aames, she penned the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. In addition, Daryl writes the Aspen Adams Novels of Suspense as well as stand-alone suspense. Daryl loves to cook, fairy garden, and read. She has a frisky Goldendoodle who keeps her in line. And she has been known to jump out of a perfectly good airplane and hitch-hike around Ireland alone.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2019 Cloak and Dagger
- 2019 Craving For Cozies Reading Challenge
- 2019 Cruisin' Thru The Cozies Reading Challenge
- 2019 Goodreads Reading Challenge
- 2019 New Release Challenge
Thanks so much for the lovely review. I’m so glad you enjoyed the book and want to read the entire series. That brought a smile to my face. ~ Daryl