A Parfait Crime
A Five-Ingredient Mystery
by
Maya Corrigan
Cozy Mystery
9th in Series
Setting - Chesapeake Bay
Publisher: Kensington Cozies
Publication Date: October 24, 2023
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-10: 1496734599 / ISBN-13: 978-1496734594
Digital ASIN: B0BT8P2FYK
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SYNOPSIS:
A granddaughter-grandfather sleuthing duo take on a perplexing new case in the latest culinary cozy mystery, sure to appeal to fans of Diane Mott, Joanne Fluke, and Katherine Hall Page.
At the site of a fatal blaze, Val’s boyfriend, a firefighter trainee, is shocked to learn the victim is known to him, a woman named Jane who belonged to the local Agatha Christie book club—and was rehearsing alongside Val’s grandfather for an upcoming Christie play being staged for charity. Just as shocking are the skeletal remains of a man found in the freezer. Who is he and who put him on ice?
After Val is chosen to replace Jane in the play, the cast gathers at their house to get to work—and enjoy Grandad’s five-ingredient parfaits—but all anyone can focus on is the bizarre real-life mystery. When it’s revealed that Jane’s death was due to something other than smoke inhalation, Val and Grandad try to retrace her final days. As they dig into her past life, their inquiry leads them to a fancy new spa in town—where they discover that Jane wasn’t the only one who had a skeleton in the cooler . . .
Includes delicious five-ingredient recipes!
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REVIEW:
5 stars!
An engaging sleuthing duo and a well-done cozy mystery.
A Parfait Crime is the ninth addition to author Maya
Corrigan’s delightful Five-Ingredient Mystery series, and “parfait” for
cozy mystery readers who enjoy a culinary theme to their stories. The sleuthing
team of Val Deniston and Don Myer, granddaughter and grandfather, is as unique
as they are engaging.
Val is sweet, smart, and just the nicest person, someone you’d
want to be friends with, knowing she’d have your back. Don is a fun and
youthful older man, full of life and enjoying every minute of it. A variety of
supporting characters surrounds them, some new to town and some long-time
residents of the small Maryland town of Bayport, Maryland. Bram Muir, Val’s love
interest, is one of the newcomers, having followed his mother to her former
hometown and is still settling in. He’s recently joined the volunteer fire
department and is much affected by his first fatality house fire. However, this
novel focuses on the murder investigation, not the growing romance.
The amateur investigation is well-thought-out and gradually
uncovers secrets and clues that lead to their potential suspects. The crimes
involved get complex fast, with a death occurring in the story almost immediately
and a huge surprise waiting for the official investigators on the scene.
The plot includes a readers theater production of Agatha
Christie’s The Mousetrap, a play I have done, so that was a fun bonus. I enjoyed
the references and the parallels cleverly sprinkled throughout the story. This
was the first book I’ve read in this series, and now I look forward to delving
into more of the author’s previous works.
I recommend A PARFAIT CRIME to cozy mystery readers,
especially those who enjoy culinary-themed tales or plots with a theater
connection.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Maya (Mary Ann) Corrigan writes the Five-Ingredient Mysteries featuring café manager Val and her live-wire grandfather solving murders in a Chesapeake Bay town. Each book has five suspects, five clues, and Granddad’s five-ingredient recipes. In the 9th book of the series, A Parfait Crime, Val and Granddad rehearse an Agatha Christie play with a cast that includes murder suspects. A Virginia resident, Maya has taught college courses in writing, detective fiction, and literature. When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, travel, trivia, cooking, and crosswords. Visit her website -- https://mayacorrigan.com -- for book news, easy recipes, and mystery history and trivia.
TOUR PARTICIPANTS:
1 comment:
Thanks so much for taking the time to read and review my book. I'm so happy that someone familiar with Christie's play enjoyed the role it had in my mystery. ~Maya Corrigan
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