Wednesday, December 03, 2014

Scorched Eggs by Laura Childs


First Line: Suzanne didn't know how she felt about Blond Bombshell No. 4 as a hair color, but she was about to find out.

The last thing Suzanne expected when she stopped in at Root 66 to have her hair colored was to witness an explosion and fire at the County Services office next door. The fire department does its best, but Hannah Venable-- friend to all at the Cackleberry Club-- loses her life in the conflagration. When arson is confirmed, Suzanne, Petra, and Toni want to know if Hannah was the intended victim, and if she was... why?

In this latest installment of the Cackleberry Club series, I found the personal lives of the main characters to be much more interesting than the mystery. Suzanne's fixated in the difference in age between herself and Sam, the man in her life who has something important he wants to say to her. Toni's dingbat ex-husband Junior is up to his usual silliness, and if you're going to insist on sticking your nose into murder, it's best to be on good terms with the local sheriff like Suzanne is.  The best parts of the book actually seemed to be when food was involved. (There's some excellent recipes and a list of resources in the back of the book.)

It didn't take me very long at all to figure out the true focus of the fire, and that wildlife would play a part in the ending. Which reminds me of something else: if a baby bird falls out of a tree and isn't the least bit hurt, wouldn't it be better to put it back up in the tree where the parent can find it easily rather than try to haul it around with you and add keeping it warm and fed to your long list of things to do?  I know... it wouldn't fit in with the story very well. And that brings to mind something that Suzanne found at the crime scene that stayed in her pocket much too long. All in all, I think my tendency to find fault with Scorched Eggs (which I've kept to a bare minimum here) to be a sign that-- unfortunately-- the story just didn't hold my interest nearly as well as other books in the series.
 

Scorched Eggs by Laura Childs
ISBN: 9780425255599
Berkley © 2014
Hardcover, 320 pages

Cozy Mystery, #6 Cackleberry Club mystery
Rating: C+
Source: the author 


2 comments:

  1. Cathy - Sorry to hear that this one didn't keep you as engaged as the others. Interesting point too that when that happens readers tend to notice those little things that are less than perfect more than they do when the story is absorbing. I have to say though, I love the name of that beauty salon - Root 66! It's inspired!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I think the name of that business is-- as you said-- truly inspired!

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