Book 1 in a brand new Cozy Mystery Series!
Scarlett’s passion is the Cozy Café.
But it has problems—big problems!
Thwarted by deadly gossip and the power hungry mayor, Scarlett’s determined to turn things around and give her family a better life. But when a murder in Cozy Hollow points to the café as a likely cause, Scarlett must put all fears aside to solve the mystery before everything she’s … fears aside to solve the mystery before everything she’s fought to keep is lost—or worse!
Cozy Hollow might never be the same again.
The Cozy Café mysteries are light, cozy mysteries featuring a family-focused café owner who discovers she’s a talented amateur sleuth—and a magnet for animals.
Other books in the series:
Book 1 Sweet Saboteur
Book 2 Candy Corruption
Enjoy a FREE sweet treat recipe in every book!
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Sweet Saboteur is the beginning of The Cozy Café Mysteries. Three sisters have inherited their Mother’s cafe – and a mountain of debt. Ms. Phipps does a great job introducing us to the sisters, the cafe, the town, the townspeople, and some most attractive first responders. There is the requisite body – but someone makes it appear that the death was caused by eating a poisoned cupcake from the Cozy Café. The mayor has a personal vendetta against the girls. He wants them out of business and out of town. This book grabbed me in the first chapter and made me just sit and finish the book because I could not put it down.
Solid cozy mystery that will also satisfy your sweet tooth!
When the Finch sisters’ mother, Lilac, passed away, she left the girls heartbroken, saddled with a mountain of debt, and the owners of the Cozy Café, her much-loved bakery in Cozy Hollow, Oregon. The eldest sister, Scarlett, was born to follow in her mother’s footsteps and loved the bakery, but the two younger girls, Violet and Ruby, felt trapped, tied to the café, and longed to hang up their aprons and follow their dreams. But the bakery was just barely breaking even, making little headway on overcoming their debt, and their tenure seemed to stretch out endlessly into the future.
Most of the residents of the small town had loved the girls’ mother, and they rallied around them, providing as much business as they could, but there were a few folks that for unknown reasons did everything in their power to make a tough situation worse. One of the most outspoken opponents was the town’s mayor, Arthur Tully. After the death of the Finch sisters’ father, Arthur had pursued the new widow and been firmly refused. Also heading up the Finches’ detractors is Arthur’s political ally on the town council, Mabel Norris, the town’s librarian.
When things at the bakery begin to look dire, Scarlett goes to the library to ask Mabel to hire Ruby as her assistant. However, Scarlett discovers the librarian’s body on the floor of a backroom, dead with a cupcake from the Cozy Café at hand appearing to have poisoned the woman. Scarlett is cleared, but another poisoning attempt is made with a cupcake soon after, and the mayor is telling anyone and everyone that the Finch sisters must go!
“Sweet Saboteur” is the charming debut novel in a new series, “The Cozy Café Mysteries,” by successful author C.A. Phipps. The three sisters, Scarlett, Violet, and Ruby are all sweet, go-getters that I could really get behind. They’ve had a rough time of it, losing both parents as well as caring for their mother during her long illness leading up to her death. None has been able to spread their wings and fly free, and now, due to circumstances, they are tied to a life that only one of the sisters finds desirable. But, they have a strong love for each other and a reasonably good support system helping them hang in there in their Aunt Olivia and the townspeople who have known them all their lives.
The bad guy in all of this, the mayor, is an awful person. Every chance he gets, he’s there bad-mouthing the girls, and he is a character that is easy to boo & hiss. The local paramedic, Sam Drake, and Sheriff Nathaniel “Nate” Adams provide delightful, potential love interests for two of the sisters, and I can’t wait for the next book in the series to see how those relationships pan out and if a third eligible bachelor makes an appearance.
I recommend this book to cozy mystery readers, especially those that enjoy a culinary storyline. The author provides a number of recipes for some delicious sounding sweets at the end of the book.
I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.
Great start to a new series with three sisters inheriting their mother’s cafe. The author brings a cast of strong characters and weaves an intriguing story filled with drama and mystery. It’s well written and moves fluidly. I enjoyed the story and will be watching for the next one.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own and freely given.
This book is all written with likable characters, and full of twists and turns. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys good, clean cozy mysteries.
Three sisters trying to escape a mysterious vendetta
3.5stars
The plot of this first in a new cozy series was fine, but by the story’s end I still barely got a good handle on any one character’s personality. Maybe Scarlett, the oldest of three baking, cafe-owning sisters who form the heart of the book. Scarlett is a bit OCD and controlling of her sisters when their actual situation is so out of control due to a mountain of medical bills and someone in town intent on sabotaging their business. Sisters Violet and Ruby have a love-loathe dynamic vis a vis Scarlett which sets them apart.
Typical of cozy mysteries, there’s a mysterious death, just a hint of cute romance, a crew of locals, some malevolent but mostly supportive, and a police force that gets a push in the right direction to find the villain by concerned citizens (and a peripatetic cat named George). Plus, the author supplies some tasty recipes at the end that tie into the sisters’ business.
I wish the ending had not been so rushed. The storyline about the town’s mayor’s odd behavior was particularly (and unrealistically) speedily discussed, diagnosed and resolved. But the story did set up a quaint, small-town universe that’s primed for future excitement and I will look for the next book to see if the Finch sisters and the mayor make the transition to better days.
I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
Scarlett and her sisters Violet and Ruby are suspects in a murder. Did one of their cupcakes really kill someone? The author did such a good job of introducing us to the Cozy Cafe, the town and its residents. The tension between Nate and Sam was quite funny considering what they thought was going on. gotta read to find out – Scarlett plays detective and has more than one mystery to solve. There is more than romance brewing. Looking forward to reading Violet’s book.