Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Critically acclaimed New York Times best-selling author Gutcheon (Gossip, 2012) tries her hand at crime fiction and brings all of her talent for creating engaging characters to the task. Two retirees investigate the gruesome death of the obnoxious father of an out-of-control teen pop star in a fire at the Maine inn where they are attending a weeklong master cooking class. Hope Babbin and Maggie Detweiler have a lifetime's worth of circumspection and acquaintances between them, especially Maggie, who has the advantage of those extra eyes she grew in the back of her head as a school principal. They form an uneasy alliance with Hope's long-estranged son and Maggie's former student, Buster, the local deputy sheriff. The dialogue is witty and crisp, and the story moves at a good clip, punctuated with mouth-watering dining intervals. A sequel is set up nicely at the end. The delicious prose and exploration of the intricacies of human nature recommend this series to fans of Alexander McCall Smith, Louise Penny, and the late master of the form, Ruth Rendell.--Murphy, Jane Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This convivial if contrived series launch from Gutcheon (Gossip) introduces Maggie Detweiler, a newly retired school head, and her friend Hope Babbin, who book a stay at the Oquossoc Mountain Inn in Bergen, Maine, the home of Hope's deputy sheriff son, Buster Babbin. Among the inn's guests are the demanding Alex Antippas, a "megarich developer of shopping malls and suburban office parks," and his wife, Lisa. Alex, who's the father of the troubled pop star Artemis by his first wife, immediately bullies Cherry Weaver, the front desk clerk, and offends Gabriel Gurrell, the inn's owner. Lisa's yappy dog later causes more trouble. When Alex dies in a suspicious fire, Det. Shep Gordon fastens on Cherry as his chief suspect. Maggie and Hope shift into amateur-sleuth mode and find plenty of others at the inn with reason to kill Alex. At the women's prodding, the amiable Buster assists in the search for the real culprit. Cozy fans who don't mind gapping plot holes will be satisfied. Agent: Emma Sweeney, Emma Sweeney Agency. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Retired school headmistress Maggie Detweiler and her socialite friend Hope Babbin are enjoying their weeklong cooking course at a rural Maine hotel when the local organic meals are interrupted by a suspicious fire and the death of another (unpopular) hotel guest. Deputy Sheriff Buster Babbin, who happens to be Hope's estranged son and Maggie's former student, forbids the guests to leave until they all have been interrogated; the spoiled reality TV stars staying at the inn aren't pleased. Buster immediately suspects a young woman whose father is the object of the deputy's long-standing grudge. Maggie and Hope think otherwise and call in favors from friends near and far. Gutcheon provides her sleuthing duo with a range of folks to investigate and threads to follow, from the Hamptons to Hollywood. Unfortunately, many of these threads are never satisfactorily explained or tied to the central mystery, which relies too heavily on coincidence. Verdict Gutcheon (Gossip) here launches a new series of traditional cozies headed by an entertaining, delightfully mismatched pair of amateur sleuths, and their future could be very bright.-Sarah Cohn, Manhattan Coll. Lib., Bronx, NY © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Two old friends decide to try vacationing together with a trip to Maine and find themselves jump-starting their amateur sleuthing careers. In Gutcheon's (Gossip, 2012, etc.) start to a new series, Maggie Detweiler and Hope Babbin head to the Oquossoc Mountain Inn for a cooking course, a retreat for Maggie after her husband's death. For Hope, it's a chance to spy on her estranged son, Buster, who happens to be the resident deputy sheriff. Buster wants to stay far away from the pair, but this proves impossible when the wealthy Antippas family shows up at the inn. Patriarch Alexander treats owner Gabriel Gurrell with disdain and continues to make enemies as he insults Chef Sarah's food and gets Cherry Weaver, the front desk girl, fired. Alexander is revealed as the father of pop sensation Artemis when news hits that she's killed herself after being arrested. Tragedy strikes again just days later when a fire breaks out and Alexander dies in the blaze. Sure, he was known to smoke in his room, but evidence at the scene suggests foul play is likely. With all the enemies he's made, there's a wealth of motivation to go around. Alternating between solving a jigsaw puzzle and digging into their fellow lodgers' back stories, Hope and Maggie put the pieces together in more ways than one, fulfilling Buster's worst fears of meddling: he "thought about telling them he couldn't discuss it, but into his head flashed the image oftorture." Besides our sleuths (who are themselves hard to tell apart), characters as well as certain plot points fade into obscurity. Tension does build in the final pages, paving the way for future installmentsthough readers might be fine with saying goodbye to these characters here. You might fall pleasantly into Gutcheon's narrative rhythm, but don't expect this story to stay with you long. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
