Book Review: A Peach of a Murder by Livia J. Washburn (Fresh Baked Murder #1)

Stars: 1 out of 5
Pros: It was only 247 pages (but who's counting?)

Cons: It's 247 pages (I'm counting!)

The Bottom Line:

Some poor characters

Writing that confuses you

Disappointing plot

Nothing Peachy About It

I'm always on the lookout for new cozy series. This recent debut caught my eye. With a story about retired teachers, I thought I'd really enjoy A Peach of a Murder. Unfortunately, I was highly disappointed.

It's summer, and Parker County, Texas, is gearing up for the annual Peach Festival. That includes widow and retired teacher Phyllis Newsom. Phyllis still lives in the big house she shared with her late husband but rents out rooms to her friends. One of them, Carolyn, always seems to win the cooking contest at the festival. After all the years of second place finishes, Phyllis is determined to win this year.

While the two women are out picking peaches to use in their recipes, the farm's owner dies. His death could be ruled an accident, but it might also be murder. Phyllis's son, an officer with the sheriff's department, investigates. Unfortunately, he can't find any conclusive evidence one way or the other.

The day of the peach festival brings another death. Head judge Donnie Boatwright keels over just after trying Phyllis's spicy peach cobbler. This is a clear case of murder, however, since the man was obviously poisoned. When Phyllis is quickly cleared of suspicion, the police turn their attention to Carolyn. Phyllis knows her friend couldn't have done it. But can she prove it?

The book showed promise at the beginning. The first death took place in the first chapter, always a good sign that the plot will move quickly. But then it quickly went downhill. We learn a few bits of information about the first victim, but then Donnie dies and the book focuses all the attention there. Still, very little seems to happen and the first case is all but forgotten except for a few fleeting references until the end. I might have forgiven the end in a better book, but here I felt the ending a bit of a cheat.

To add to the problem, the characters aren't really that likeable. The only one I truly liked was Sam, the boarder who moves into Phyllis's house during the story. Phyllis was okay, but I never truly took to her like I normally do a series lead.

And I hated Carolyn. Based on the behavior we saw in this book, I can't believe the two women are friends. It's pointed out many times that Carolyn only acts this way during festival season. If I had a friend belittle me this way, we wouldn't be friends the rest of the year. It went far beyond friendly rivalry. Frankly, I didn't care one way or the other if Carolyn had killed Donnie, so that detail didn't pull me into the story.

The final nail in the coffin is the poor writing style. There are dangling modifiers and awkward sentences throughout the book. There were a few times a sentence was so poorly constructed I had to read it several times to figure out what the author meant. An English teacher would have a field day. Even the three recipes in the back of the book could have used a bit more detail. As it is, they leave a step or two to your best judgment.

A Peach of a Murder was a true disappointment. I won't be visiting Phyllis again.