Jessica Beck
was flummoxed for once concerning my rating of Evil Eclairs, I've always prioritized a strong finish, and I loved knowing the identity of the murder, and maybe so will you.
The issue with this book is that for one fifth of it's duration little, if anything, happens.
There was no real purpose to the investigation and there were too many interludes during the said inquiry.
The previous book was action packed, But this one holds its own, Slowly, events did accumulate, giving us an illusion of overload, It's a fairly unfair/stars, but then when compared to better books, I simply can't give it a four.
Reading the Donut Shop Mysteries is one of the highlights of my readership and I particularly like the fact that I'll be ending my reading challenge for the year with half of the books read from now till the end being Jessica Beck's.
Jessica Beck, a. k. a. Tim Myers, is one of the top cozy mystery authors, in my opinion, Tim Myers was writing cozy mysteries, and I was devouring every one of them, before the term “cozy mystery” was coined, I believe.
I love these books, I did read this one,in the donut shop mystery series, before reading, Bookis “in transit” through the library system, I do not feel that I missed anything by skipping over, and bookdid not give anything away about the previous book.
If you have access to a public library system, i recommend getting the large print editions.
They seem to read faster than the regular print, so you can move on to the next one quicker in this long series! Cute light reading, took me a night to read.
I liked this series. It's just like the fact that this series is like joanne flukes series, just with donuts and yummy recipes.
Enjoy Jessica Beck's books. They are a quick and easy to read, They definitely have the small town flavor, This was a fun book, The main character, Suzanne Hart, owns and runs a donut shop seven days a week, A radio jockey urges people to boycott her donut shop because it is deadly, She gets into a tiff with him, and the next morning he is found dead with an elair stuffed in his mouth.
The police interviewed her as a suspect, but let her go, But heer business has gone down because of the suspicion that she is a murderer, Therefore he decides that she has to find the murderer herself, Another great book by Jessica Beck, . . Just realized all the other books in the series that I've yet to read and will need to hunt down.
Excellent series for those who love a good light murder mystery! I accept that cozy mysteries are a little light on character development and plot plausibility compared to other literary fare, but these novels take my patience for that too far.
I'm tired of reading about Suzanne pestering people for an alibi constantly, her cold, nonromantic relationship with Jake, and the limited inner dialogue.
Inner dialogue is what gives characters more depth, and there is not enough of that in these novels.
The scenes move so fast with little depth and it makes me just not care what is going to happen.
The breaking point for me was early on in this novel when the clown came into the store and Suzanne refused him service because she was traumatized by a clown as a child.
Seriously Refusing service Then having all the other customers cheer That just made Suzanne and the other townspeople even more unlikable.
A good author knows that discrimination is not something that the main character should be involved in.
This incident is odd enough that it is surely something related to the mystery, but I just don't care to find out.
There are plenty of other cozy mysteries out there that do a great job of writing likable, deep characters, so I'll just focus on those.
I tried to like this for all that it was more cosy than mystery, In brief some of the flaws
far too much focus on Suzanne's superchaste lovelife, I didn't mind that it was superchaste I minded reading about it in so much detail as if the author thought I wasand at a Christian camp for learning to be a good wife.
I didn't need quite so many pages wasted on whether her mother and friends would or would not date.
A lot of long sections of people eating, Once again I don't mind people eating and in context it can be an important part of a book, especially when you are trying to make your mystery "cosy".
Here there was so much of it that the temptation was to think it was put in because the author was out of ideas for the actual plot.
Randomly inserted recipes that were all variations on a theme and had no clear connection to the plot.
That is to say they were donut recipes, but they were not ones referred to in the story.
The last one was a pasta recipe which was probably a reference to an eating scene much earlier in the book but was placed right in the middle of the denoument.
WTF It made the last chapter even less exciting to read because any intertia had been lost.
I think if recipes are used they should be thoughtfully connected to the book and perhaps collected at the back.
It made me think "Like Kerry Greenwood's Corinna Chapman but more madly done if you vaguely liked this or thought the idea broadly had potential then try that
Woman has to have a man and all the essentialised shit there.
In this sense the book almost got ainstead of afrom me, because it was not the most misogynist book I ever read but it did have some drippy heterosexist stuff that puts men on a pedestal they really have not earned.
Also the bad writing pulled it down
The bad writing, Things just flung themselves along one thing after another, No character development, no feel for setting I realise this is bookbut nevertheless and what is far worse, no clarity.
At times I had to read dialogue a couple of times to get a sense of what they are saying.
I have philosophers and sociologist to read when I want to struggle for meaning, this was meant to be just a relaxing novel.
An ounce of editing and a bit more time put in by the writer might have helped I mark papers so I am learning to recognise when someone put in a last minute effort.
All in all, I had a tiny amount of amusement but will stay clear of this series given how many things I recently read that I enjoy better for example Marx who at least is sarcastic.
I think some people would probably like this more than I did because of all the hand holding and chaste twilight kisses over a basket of fried chicken This is the fourth book in a cute series about a baker who keeps getting caught up in mysteries in her small town.
Suzanne Hart owns a donut shop in a former railroad station in her hometown in North Carolina.
Her donuts are to die for, but not literally until the local lovetohate host of a show on the radio station turns up dead with one of Suzannes eclairs stuffed in his mouth.
The problem is, that the two just had a confrontation over his denouncement of the bakery and plea for citizens to boycott the place.
Now the prime suspect in Lester Moorefields death, Suzanne is determined to clear her name, with or without the help of the local police.
Since I started reading these “Stephanie Plum”type books, I call them “fun fluff, ” Theres nothing too deep in these types of novels, The main character, in this case, Suzanne Hart, is a capable woman who finds herself in the middle of trouble she didnt ask for and doesnt trust anyone else to clear her name.
These are supposed to be books that are fun to read that doesnt require a lot of thinking.
To read my full review, please go to: sitelink co Evil Eclairs by Jessica Beck is theth book of the Donut Shop Mystery series set in contemporary small town North Carolina.
Suzanne owns Donut Hearts, and dedicates all her time and attention to her business except for sleuthing a favorite hobby.
When the local radio station manager Lester Moorefield blasts her business over the air, accusing her of intentionally selling deadly poison donuts out of greed, without regard to endangering April Springs residents of course Suzanne must stand up to him, call him out if you will, face to face.
Not long after their confrontation, Lester is found dead, with an eclair stuck in his mouth,
Police Chief Martin questions Suzanne, but does not really suspect her of murder, Plenty of other people in April Springs and surrounding communities have been targeted by Lester, He has a criminal record, A wide variety of suspects could have murdered him, Now begins the process of checking alibis,
Suzanne's business drops off dramatically, She can't afford to box up and give away all her donuts each day at the close of business, while she waits for the slow process of police investigation.
Plus she's convinced she can learn more from suspects than the police can, Her pals Grace and George are eager to sleuth another case, They start questioning, comparing notes, and eliminating suspects who have alibis,
Suzanne's boyfriend Jake has vacation coming and he invites her to go on a trip.
She turns him down, claiming she can't leave the business, But is it really because she enjoys sleuthing too much
Suzanne shares what she learns with Jake and with the newspaperman Ralph, but still ends up in a deadly confrontation with the killer.
Mild entertainment, heartwarming interaction between Suzanne and her mom, a touch of suspense at the end,
Recipes included: Peanut Butter Drop Donuts, Oatmeal/Raisin/Cranberry Donuts, Apple Fritters, PotatoBased Donuts, Drop Donuts, Pineapple Drop Donuts, The Last Resort Donuts, A Twist on Textured Donuts, Homemade Pasta This was another good murder mystery for Suzanne and her bestie Grace to investigate.
I like how the series is almost like a serial, There's nothing major that has to be remembered if you choose not to read in order, but people are sometimes brought back to either be killers, victims or red herrings.
I really love George's character so muchhe's about the only one that Suzanne listens to, There was a fairly major side story regarding him in this book, but I was happy it all worked out well.
Emma's another fave character, and Momma too, bless her heart and I mean it in a good way! She came to a realization in this book about someone she likes.
Maybe she was just worried all along her decision would make Suzanne upset, who knows,
The showdown was a little scary, and I was really hoping that Suzanne's text went through right before it.
I think she learned the hard way about the need to take time off and let other capable people handle things for her.
Suzanne did have a minor injury but not from any killer confrontation, although I was glad it might have contributed to her learning how to let go and let people take care of her and her shop for a change.
I've been borrowing this series from my local library via Overdrive and enjoying it a lot!
The issue with this book is that for one fifth of it's duration little, if anything, happens.
There was no real purpose to the investigation and there were too many interludes during the said inquiry.
The previous book was action packed, But this one holds its own, Slowly, events did accumulate, giving us an illusion of overload, It's a fairly unfair/stars, but then when compared to better books, I simply can't give it a four.
Reading the Donut Shop Mysteries is one of the highlights of my readership and I particularly like the fact that I'll be ending my reading challenge for the year with half of the books read from now till the end being Jessica Beck's.
Jessica Beck, a. k. a. Tim Myers, is one of the top cozy mystery authors, in my opinion, Tim Myers was writing cozy mysteries, and I was devouring every one of them, before the term “cozy mystery” was coined, I believe.
I love these books, I did read this one,in the donut shop mystery series, before reading, Bookis “in transit” through the library system, I do not feel that I missed anything by skipping over, and bookdid not give anything away about the previous book.
If you have access to a public library system, i recommend getting the large print editions.
They seem to read faster than the regular print, so you can move on to the next one quicker in this long series! Cute light reading, took me a night to read.
I liked this series. It's just like the fact that this series is like joanne flukes series, just with donuts and yummy recipes.
Enjoy Jessica Beck's books. They are a quick and easy to read, They definitely have the small town flavor, This was a fun book, The main character, Suzanne Hart, owns and runs a donut shop seven days a week, A radio jockey urges people to boycott her donut shop because it is deadly, She gets into a tiff with him, and the next morning he is found dead with an elair stuffed in his mouth.
The police interviewed her as a suspect, but let her go, But heer business has gone down because of the suspicion that she is a murderer, Therefore he decides that she has to find the murderer herself, Another great book by Jessica Beck, . . Just realized all the other books in the series that I've yet to read and will need to hunt down.
Excellent series for those who love a good light murder mystery! I accept that cozy mysteries are a little light on character development and plot plausibility compared to other literary fare, but these novels take my patience for that too far.
I'm tired of reading about Suzanne pestering people for an alibi constantly, her cold, nonromantic relationship with Jake, and the limited inner dialogue.
Inner dialogue is what gives characters more depth, and there is not enough of that in these novels.
The scenes move so fast with little depth and it makes me just not care what is going to happen.
The breaking point for me was early on in this novel when the clown came into the store and Suzanne refused him service because she was traumatized by a clown as a child.
Seriously Refusing service Then having all the other customers cheer That just made Suzanne and the other townspeople even more unlikable.
A good author knows that discrimination is not something that the main character should be involved in.
This incident is odd enough that it is surely something related to the mystery, but I just don't care to find out.
There are plenty of other cozy mysteries out there that do a great job of writing likable, deep characters, so I'll just focus on those.
I tried to like this for all that it was more cosy than mystery, In brief some of the flaws
far too much focus on Suzanne's superchaste lovelife, I didn't mind that it was superchaste I minded reading about it in so much detail as if the author thought I wasand at a Christian camp for learning to be a good wife.
I didn't need quite so many pages wasted on whether her mother and friends would or would not date.
A lot of long sections of people eating, Once again I don't mind people eating and in context it can be an important part of a book, especially when you are trying to make your mystery "cosy".
Here there was so much of it that the temptation was to think it was put in because the author was out of ideas for the actual plot.
Randomly inserted recipes that were all variations on a theme and had no clear connection to the plot.
That is to say they were donut recipes, but they were not ones referred to in the story.
The last one was a pasta recipe which was probably a reference to an eating scene much earlier in the book but was placed right in the middle of the denoument.
WTF It made the last chapter even less exciting to read because any intertia had been lost.
I think if recipes are used they should be thoughtfully connected to the book and perhaps collected at the back.
It made me think "Like Kerry Greenwood's Corinna Chapman but more madly done if you vaguely liked this or thought the idea broadly had potential then try that
Woman has to have a man and all the essentialised shit there.
In this sense the book almost got ainstead of afrom me, because it was not the most misogynist book I ever read but it did have some drippy heterosexist stuff that puts men on a pedestal they really have not earned.
Also the bad writing pulled it down
The bad writing, Things just flung themselves along one thing after another, No character development, no feel for setting I realise this is bookbut nevertheless and what is far worse, no clarity.
At times I had to read dialogue a couple of times to get a sense of what they are saying.
I have philosophers and sociologist to read when I want to struggle for meaning, this was meant to be just a relaxing novel.
An ounce of editing and a bit more time put in by the writer might have helped I mark papers so I am learning to recognise when someone put in a last minute effort.
All in all, I had a tiny amount of amusement but will stay clear of this series given how many things I recently read that I enjoy better for example Marx who at least is sarcastic.
I think some people would probably like this more than I did because of all the hand holding and chaste twilight kisses over a basket of fried chicken This is the fourth book in a cute series about a baker who keeps getting caught up in mysteries in her small town.
Suzanne Hart owns a donut shop in a former railroad station in her hometown in North Carolina.
Her donuts are to die for, but not literally until the local lovetohate host of a show on the radio station turns up dead with one of Suzannes eclairs stuffed in his mouth.
The problem is, that the two just had a confrontation over his denouncement of the bakery and plea for citizens to boycott the place.
Now the prime suspect in Lester Moorefields death, Suzanne is determined to clear her name, with or without the help of the local police.
Since I started reading these “Stephanie Plum”type books, I call them “fun fluff, ” Theres nothing too deep in these types of novels, The main character, in this case, Suzanne Hart, is a capable woman who finds herself in the middle of trouble she didnt ask for and doesnt trust anyone else to clear her name.
These are supposed to be books that are fun to read that doesnt require a lot of thinking.
To read my full review, please go to: sitelink co Evil Eclairs by Jessica Beck is theth book of the Donut Shop Mystery series set in contemporary small town North Carolina.
Suzanne owns Donut Hearts, and dedicates all her time and attention to her business except for sleuthing a favorite hobby.
When the local radio station manager Lester Moorefield blasts her business over the air, accusing her of intentionally selling deadly poison donuts out of greed, without regard to endangering April Springs residents of course Suzanne must stand up to him, call him out if you will, face to face.
Not long after their confrontation, Lester is found dead, with an eclair stuck in his mouth,
Police Chief Martin questions Suzanne, but does not really suspect her of murder, Plenty of other people in April Springs and surrounding communities have been targeted by Lester, He has a criminal record, A wide variety of suspects could have murdered him, Now begins the process of checking alibis,
Suzanne's business drops off dramatically, She can't afford to box up and give away all her donuts each day at the close of business, while she waits for the slow process of police investigation.
Plus she's convinced she can learn more from suspects than the police can, Her pals Grace and George are eager to sleuth another case, They start questioning, comparing notes, and eliminating suspects who have alibis,
Suzanne's boyfriend Jake has vacation coming and he invites her to go on a trip.
She turns him down, claiming she can't leave the business, But is it really because she enjoys sleuthing too much
Suzanne shares what she learns with Jake and with the newspaperman Ralph, but still ends up in a deadly confrontation with the killer.
Mild entertainment, heartwarming interaction between Suzanne and her mom, a touch of suspense at the end,
Recipes included: Peanut Butter Drop Donuts, Oatmeal/Raisin/Cranberry Donuts, Apple Fritters, PotatoBased Donuts, Drop Donuts, Pineapple Drop Donuts, The Last Resort Donuts, A Twist on Textured Donuts, Homemade Pasta This was another good murder mystery for Suzanne and her bestie Grace to investigate.
I like how the series is almost like a serial, There's nothing major that has to be remembered if you choose not to read in order, but people are sometimes brought back to either be killers, victims or red herrings.
I really love George's character so muchhe's about the only one that Suzanne listens to, There was a fairly major side story regarding him in this book, but I was happy it all worked out well.
Emma's another fave character, and Momma too, bless her heart and I mean it in a good way! She came to a realization in this book about someone she likes.
Maybe she was just worried all along her decision would make Suzanne upset, who knows,
The showdown was a little scary, and I was really hoping that Suzanne's text went through right before it.
I think she learned the hard way about the need to take time off and let other capable people handle things for her.
Suzanne did have a minor injury but not from any killer confrontation, although I was glad it might have contributed to her learning how to let go and let people take care of her and her shop for a change.
I've been borrowing this series from my local library via Overdrive and enjoying it a lot!
Donut shop owner Suzanne Hart admits her sweet treats dont exactly qualify as health food.
But does she really deserve to be labeled a “killer” by local radio jockey Lester Moorefield The annoying host is urging citizens to boycott Suzannes “deadly
dough” factoryuntil hes found dead himself, stuffed with one of Suzannes éclairs
Everyone in April Springs knows about the feud between Lester and Suzanne, which makes her the numberone suspect.
She tries to use the donut defensedonuts dont kill people, people kill peoplebut that creamfilled éclair at the scene of the crime has the whole town filled with suspicion.
If Suzanne cant figure out who killed the radio star, shell soon be filling a prison cell instead of a pastry