Book Review: The Rocky Road to Ruin by Meri Allen (Ice Cream Shop Mysteries #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Strong characters, interesting mystery, ice cream

Cons: Pacing in the middle, doesn’t come with free ice cream

The Bottom Line:

Ice cream and murder

Make a delicious combo

In this fun debut

Murder Served Ice Cold

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, this is National Ice Cream Month.  What better time for the debut in the Ice Cream Shop Mysteries to come out?  The Rocky Road to Ruin introduces us to a brand new set of characters and ice cream so delicious it will make you drool.

Riley Rhodes has returned home to Penniman, Connecticut, for the funeral of her best friend’s mother.  After the service, she sees that Caroline and her brother, Mike, are fighting over what to do with the property that the two of them were left, including Udderly Delicious, the ice cream shop where Riley worked as a teen.  The next morning, Riley finds Mike dead.  Knowing that Caroline will be a prime suspect, Riley tries to figure out what happened.  Can she do it?

What I’ve left off so far is Riley’s background.  She’s a CIA librarian who has gone on a few covert missions.  How cool and unusual is that?  I enjoyed that, and seeing how her mind worked as a result.

Don’t worry, this is still definitely a cozy.  Despite the sad beginning, I felt right at home as soon as I started the book.  The setting, tone, and characters keep things from being too somber, and the bittersweet feeling makes for a richer book.

The murder takes place pretty quickly, and the book sets up some interesting suspects and complications for Riley to unravel.  Unfortunately, I did feel the pacing was uneven in the middle, but things picked up again as we got near the climax, and I had a hard time putting the book down at that point until Riley solved it all.  The climax definitely impacted me.

And that’s because these characters are wonderful.  This may be the first book in the series, but they come to life.  I can’t wait to learn more about them as the series progresses.

Then there’s the ice cream.  Have I mentioned I love ice cream?  There is so much talk of ice cream that my mouth watered as I was reading.  Fortunately, we have a couple of recipes at the back of the book for some of the unusual flavors featured in the book.

Summer is the perfect time to read this fun debut.  Grab a bowl of ice cream and curl up with The Rocky Road to Ruin.  Personally, I’ll have a second scoop while I wait for the sequel.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Giveaway!

I'm giving away a copy of this book.  The winner will have a choice of a physical copy (US addresses only) or a digital copy (open to everyone).

Since I asked about your favorite ice cream flavor a couple weeks ago, this time tell me about a favorite toping or sundae.  And please be sure to give me your email address so I can contact you if you win.

I'll pull the winner next Thursday, July 29th, so please enter before then.