Book Review: Serving Up the Truth by Debra Klein (Amanda Knightly Mysteries #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Amanda and the rest of the cast, a good mystery

Cons: Writing a little rough at the beginning, mystery could have been a little stronger

The Bottom Line:

A bad customer

Freeing a family friend

Overall it’s fun

When a Frustrating Customer Gets Murdered

I recently had the good fortunate to win a copy of Serving Up the Truth, the first in a series from Debra Klein, from the Chicks on the Case blog.  It sounded like fun, so I bumped it up my To Be Read mountain range.  And I’m glad I did.

The book introduces us to Amanda Knightly, who lives with her young adult children and her husband in Oak Hills, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.  She works behind the deli counter of the local market, and she has earned a reputation for her excellent customer service.

Which is why the young lady frustrates her so much that afternoon.  She is arrogant and rude, taking her time despite the long line behind her before ultimately deciding to buy nothing.  Amanda does her best to shake it off, but she learns the next morning that the woman was murdered that night.  Then, one of her son’s close friends is arrested for the crime.  Amanda believes the young man is innocent, so she sets about trying to figure out what really happened.  Can she do it?

This book is a first novel, and the first couple of chapters show it.  I get it.  It’s really hard to introduce characters and relationships smoothly. The limited attempts at writing I’ve done have run into the same issue.  Fortunately, once the mystery gets going, things do smooth out.

I was pulled into the case pretty quickly.  Amanda found some solid suspects.  I did figure a couple of things out early on, but I was still entertained on my way to the logical climax.

So many cozies have similar set ups, so this one was refreshing.  Amanda is a happily married middle aged woman with two kids in their early to mid-twenties.  All of them are good characters, and we meet some other fun series regulars.  I’d definitely be interested in visiting them again.

I’m glad I prioritized reading Serving Up the Truth.  This is a debut that introduces us to a great town I hope we get to visit again.