Book Review: Pop Goes the Murder by Kristi Abbott (Popcorn Shop Mysteries #2)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Great plot, fun new characters

Cons: Some of the supporting players only get small parts here.

The Bottom Line:

Murdered assistant

Pops Rebecca in danger

In this fun sequel

Pop this Book into Your Collection

I was very impressed with the first in the Popcorn Shop Mysteries when I read it last year, so I’ve been counting down the days until I could read Pop Goes the Murder, our return visit to Rebecca Anderson and her gourmet popcorn shop, POPS.  This book was worth the wait.

Rebecca opened the shop after getting a divorce from famed celebrity chef Antoine Belanger.  However, Antoine has followed her.  Actually, he’s come to town to do a segment on POPS for his TV show.  While Rebecca has tried hard to distance herself from her ex, she can’t pass up the boost this would be for her and her business.  Her family and her new boyfriend are less than enthused at having Antoine back in town, but they are willing to deal with him for a week for her sake.

Melanie, Antoine’s assistant, has called an early morning meeting to go over the production schedule for the upcoming week, but when Rebecca arrives at her hotel room, she finds Melanie dead, electrocuted in her bathtub.  At first, the police think that it was suicide, but several things Rebecca saw make her think it was murder.  When the police do agree with her, they zero in on the wrong suspect.  Can she find the real killer?

This book starts off with a pop.  We get the background we need as Rebecca is in the process of finding the body, and the rest of the background fills in over the course of the book.  Melanie was not a well-liked member of the crew, so the list of suspects is large, which keeps us guessing until the logical end.  Okay, so I did figure it out a little early, but I didn’t care because I was having fun.

I had fallen in love with several of the supporting characters in the first book, and I was disappointed that they were essentially reduced to cameos here.  However, the returning characters we did get to see more of were wonderful once again.  Of course, without as much page time for returning characters, we had plenty of page time for new characters, and they were wonderful.  The suspects were strong, and we met at least one new series regular here as well.

If this book leaves your mouth watering for some of Rebecca’s gourmet popcorn (and I know it will), you’ll be glad to know there is a recipe for two of her creations in the back of the book.

While this book doesn’t spoil the previous book, it does talk quite a bit about what happened in it.  You can read the books out of order and still enjoy them, but it would be best to read them in order.

And once you’ve read one, you’ll definitely want to read the other.  This series is as addicting as real popcorn.  Pick up Pop Goes the Murder, pop some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Giveaway!

Thanks to the publisher, I have one copy of this book to give away.  Because it is a physical book, the contest is limited to residence of the US.

Just leave me a comment with your e-mail address so I can get in touch with you if you win.  I will pick the winner next Thursday, January 12th, so please leave your comment before 12:01AM Pacific Time on 1/12.  You will have until midnight on 1/17 to get back to me, or I will choose a new winner on 1/18.