Book Review: Grilling the Subject by Daryl Wood Gerber (Cookbook Nook Mysteries #5)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong mystery and characters, fun theme

Cons: All cons have been grilled away

The Bottom Line:

Festival, murder

Jenna must clear her father

Cooking up fun book

Wild West, BBQ, and Murder

I’ve really come to look forward to each entry in the Cookbook Nook series.  Yes, there are great characters and a fun mystery, but in each book, author Daryl Wood Gerber has created a fun theme for her fictional town to be celebrating.  Those add a wonderful touch to the books, and I feel like I’m on vacation with the characters.  Grilling the Subject is the latest in the series, and it’s another wonderful read.

The Wild West Extravaganza has come to Crystal Cove.  It’s a week full of stagecoach races, rodeo events, and other fun.  The Cookbook Nook is getting into the spirit by featuring BBQ themed cookbooks and food in their café.  Jenna Hart, the owner of the cookbook bookstore, is looking forward to a wild and wonderful time.

However, someone has taken the theme too far.  Early one morning, a fire breaks out in a neighborhood, and Sylvia Gump is found in the ashes.  Sylvia was a very hard person to get along with, and she made many enemies, especially among her neighbors.  Unfortunately, Jenna’s dad was one of Sylvia’s neighbors.  Worse yet, Cary Hart doesn’t have an alibi, and a neighbor claims to have seen him at the scene.  Now, Jenna needs to find the real killer to clear her dad of a crime she knows he didn’t commit.  Can she do it?

Jenna’s investigation fits in around the fun events of the week nicely.  It helps that the suspects keep coming to the events, so Jenna can ask them questions while she watches.  There are a good number of suspects, too, with suspicion bouncing back and forth among them until the end.  I thought I had the killer pegged, but I wasn’t sure until the very end.

This book also features a very strong sub-plot.  I guessed part of it early on, but I didn’t mind since it added some real depth to Jenna and several of her relationships.

And Jenna has plenty of people in her life.  There is a large cast of characters, and it’s fun to see them all again since they continue to feel like real people.  I’d love to have them as a group of friends, in fact.  The suspects are just as strong and interesting, making it hard to figure out the killer.

If you love the recipes at the end of a culinary cozy, this is certainly the book for you.  There are 13 different recipes, all in keeping with the Old West/BBQ theme.  There are a few different types of BBQ sauce, Cowboy cookies, fudge, some barbecue muffins, and many more.  I dare you to read them without your mouth drooling.

So pull out your cowboy boots and settle in for a delightful read.  Grilling the Subject is a delicious new mystery that will leave you hungry for more.

New more recipes for murder?  Here are the Cookbook Nook Mysteries in order.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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 Tuesday, August 9th, so please leave your comment before 12:01AM Pacific Time on 8/9.  You will have until midnight on 8/14 to get back to me, or I will choose a new winner on 8/15.