Single mom Athena Spencer is back in Michigan working at her family’s garden center, raising a pet racoon, and digging up clues in the smart new mystery series by the New York Times bestselling author of the Flower Shop Mysteries . . . The entire family has been put to work when a big fat Greek wedding rehearsal is booked at the Parthenon. All hands are needed for rolling grape leaves, layering … booked at the Parthenon. All hands are needed for rolling grape leaves, layering moussaka, and keeping the bride calm. But then the groom goes MIA and there’s far more to worry about then just whether Yiayia’s lemon rice soup has gone cold.
No matter how tangy the tzatziki, everyone’s appetite is ruined when the groom is found dead, a pair of scissors planted in his back. When the bride accuses Athena’s sister Selene, a hairstylist, of seducing and stabbing her fiancé, it’s all-out war—and it’s up to Athena to dig up the dirt on the suspects and nip these suspicions in the bud . . .
“Kate Collins delivers an entertaining, amusing, and deliciously suspenseful mystery.”
—Cleo Coyle, New York Times bestselling author
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Athena Spencer finds herself trying to find time to juggle her job, motherhood, family and possible romance but when her sister Selene is arrested for murder finding the true murderer becomes a top priority. The hardest part is that there are too many people that had cause to murder the victim.
Author Kate Collins is one of the main reasons I got hooked on cozies years ago. So when I saw she had a new series I jumped at the chance to read this book. I was not disappointed. The family dynamics are funny yet loving, the under current of romance interesting and of course the multifaceted mystery enjoyable. Thanks to Kensington and NetGalley for an ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.
Author Kate Collins is dear to my heart because her Flower Shop Mystery series was one of the first I read that got me hooked on the Cozy Mystery genre. So, when she debuted a new series last year it was a no-brainer for me to pick up the first book. I fell in love with Athena Spencer and her big, boisterous, close-knit Greek family. This second book in the series is just as good as the first and I am hoping that we will have this family around for a while. I think that is what continues to draw me back to books written by this author. She crafts these genuine, realistic families that I think may readers can relate to. I come from an Italian/Irish/Scottish family so I understand the large gatherings and everyone in each other’s business. I especially love Athena’s parents. They balance each other out nicely. There is a blossoming relationship between Athena and Case, which I like, especially given the way things turned out for Case in this book. The spark between them along with Athena’s personality is going to make this interesting.
I thought the mystery was well done. It kept me guessing the entire book. There are a few suspects that stand out because they have good strong motives. That said, Ms. Collins does a great job of present clues along the way that kept me vacillating between two of the suspects. Just when I was sure it was one of them, Case and Athena would come across some clues that would lead me to change my mind in favor of the other. I love those types of mysteries- the ones that keep you engaged and really paying attention to all the details.
I love this new series, the characters, and the fact that it is set in a fictional town in my home state. I will definitely be back for more books in this series for however long Ms. Collins chooses to write them.
I voluntarily read a digital advanced reader copy provided to me by the publisher, Kensington, through Netgalley. The opinions expressed are my own.
In this second book of the series the family is working together at the restaurant preparing for a wedding rehearsal which Selena is a part of. The night of the rehearsal all is going well except the groom is missing out on the festivities and no one seems to know where he is. The bride is upset so a few people are sent to check on the groom who is found dead with scissors sticking out of his back. Athena soon realizes that there is a rumor about her sister Selena and the groom going around. She knows she must put all the pieces together and figure out who the killer is before her sister ends up in jail. With the help of a few friends and family she is on the track to finding a killer but will the murderer get to her first? This was a lively read that kept me guessing all the way until the end.
A Big Fat Greek Murder
A Goddess Of Greene St. Book #2
Kate Collins
5 Stars
Synopsis:
The New York Times bestselling author of the Flower Shop Mystery series returns with the second installment in her new Goddess of Greene St. Mystery series starring single mom Athena Spencer, who returns to Michigan to work at her family’s garden center, raise a pet raccoon, and dig up the dirt on suspects when a wedding rehearsal ends up with the murder of a groom…
The entire family has been put to work when a big fat Greek wedding rehearsal is booked at the Parthenon. All hands are needed for rolling grape leaves, layering moussaka, and keeping the bride calm. But then the groom goes M.I.A. and there’s far more to worry about than just whether Yiayia’s lemon rice soup has gone cold.
No matter how tangy the tzatziki, everyone’s appetite is ruined when the groom is found dead, a pair of scissors planted in his back. When the bride accuses Athena’s sister Selene, a hairstylist, of seducing and stabbing her fiance, it’s all-out war–and it’s up to Athena to dig up the dirt on the suspects and nip these suspicions in the bud… (Goodreads)
Review:
The characters are well rounded and well developed. I enjoyed the interactions between Athena and her family a lot, and it brought a lot of humor to the book. Athena is a hard worker and she does not let anything get in her way when she is trying to protect her family. She has to figure out who the murderer is or else one of her sisters may be going to prison for a long time. Her and Case make really good partners and it may turn into something else.
The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and brought everything to life in my mind’s eye. And the food that was being described had my mouth watering. The mystery was well plotted and there were enough clues to sift through and suspects to consider.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. I cannot wait to see what trouble Athes and her family get into next.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Kensington Books, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.
Athena returns with another murder to solve. The groom is killed before he can attend his rehearsal dinner. Athena’s sister Selena is jailed as the suspected killer. Athena teams with Case to solve this murder. Lots of fun solving this mystery. Wonderful characters and you can miss Athena’s secret blogs.
Wedding bells should soon be ringing for Mandy and Brady. All the members of the wedding party are gathered at the Parthenon restaurant, owned by Athena Spencer’s grandparents. Her sister, Selene is one of the bridesmaids. Everyone is ready to sit down to enjoy the meal and toast the future bride and groom but Brady is a no-show. When he fails to answer his phone his friends go to his apartment and find that he had a good reason for not answering – he’s very dead and the murder weapon? Selene’s haircutting scissors are imbedded in his back. Mandy is quick to accuse Selene of killing him and it will take all of Athena’s investigative talents to figure out who hated him enough to change wedding bells to death knells. The list of suspects turns out to be a long one and it includes the bride and her brother for a start.
Spending time with this warm and colorful Greek family is a great stress reliever. Athena juggles being a single mother after her divorce. After she loses her job and returning home to her family she works at the family garden center, sometimes helps out at the Parthenon and secretly writes a very popular blog about a Greek family. There is even a touch of a budding romance with Case. Plus there is a cute raccoon. As for the mystery itself, it is well crafted and kept me looking in the wrong direction for the killer. I have no idea what the next book is titled nor when it will be published but I already have it on my TBR list as Kate Collins/Greek #3.
My thanks to the publisher, Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
A Big Fat Greek Wedding is the second book of the A Goddess of Greene Street Mystery series.
Athena Spencer has returned to her hometown of Sequoia, MI, along with her ten-year-old son. Her family owns a garden center, and Athena works there. Her grandparents own a nearby restaurant, The Parthenon, where this story begins.
The Parthenon is hosting Mandy and Brady’s wedding rehearsal dinner and Athena’s sister, Selene, is a bridesmaid. The dinner is about to be served when and the groom hasn’t arrived yet. Calls to his phone go unanswered, and soon the groomsmen leave for his apartment. A short time later, the party will learn that Brady has been found dead. Soon, Mandy is accusing Selene of having an affair with Brady and of murdering him. When the police determine that the scissors used to kill Brady were Selene’s hairdressing scissors and that Selene had had a bad experience with Brady, the police will arrest her for his murder.
Athena knows that her sister isn’t a killer, and she will team up with Case Donnelly, who has returned to town, to hunt down the killer.
Like all of Ms. Collins’s books, the story is well-written and plotted. The characters are well developed and believable. I particularly liked Athena’s sister Delphi, who claims to have psychic abilities; whether she is or not, her readings are enjoyable. And the pet raccoon is a special edition.
Delicious sounding recipes are also included in the book.
I will be watching for the next book in this delightful series.
4.5 stars
This is the second installment in Kate Collins’s Goddess of Greene St. Mystery series. Our protagonist, Athena Spencer, who after going through a divorce, decided to move back to her hometown of Sequoia, Michigan, with her ten-year-old son. Athena works at her family’s garden center and occasionally helps out at the Parthenon, a Greek diner owned by her grandparents. When a wedding rehearsal at the Parthenon ends up with the groom dead and the bride to be accusing Athena’s sister of seducing and murdering her fiancé, Athena becomes determined to prove her sister’s innocence.
A Big Fat Greek Murder by Kate Collins is a delightful addition to the series. It was nice learning about the Greek culture and of course, the mouth-watering descriptions of Greek food was very enjoyable to read about. I love Athena and her fun, boisterous Greek family. The interactions between her and her family kept me laughing and entertained. When she’s not working or solving murders, Athena also writes blog posts inspired by her family and no one except Case and her dad knows she’s the writer behind the popular blog. I thought that added a fun layer to the story. Speaking of Case, I Iike the way the relationship between him and Athena is developing. I think he’s going to make a great private investigator and I can’t wait to see him team up with her, plus the addition of Lila is sure to be interesting.
As for the mystery, I thought it was well-done. The culprit wasn’t a huge surprise, but I have to give the author props for pointing me in a different direction every time I thought I had the mystery all figured out.
All in all, I enjoyed my time with this book and eagerly await the third installment.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Such a fun book to read! Athena Spencer is a single mom that is working for the family business. When the whole family is drafted to help host a big Greek style wedding things get a bit chaotic for them all. When the groom ends up dead her sister Selena, a hairdresser is accused and Athena tries to solve the case and put a stop to the bride to be and her accusations. Fun characters with big personalities and loved the touch with the pet racoon! Hope there will be more from this author with these characters.
Did you ever finish a book, give a happy sigh and immediately look for the author’s backlist and earlier books in the series? That’s how much I enjoyed this book! I was completely engaged and read the book in one sitting. The story flowed well, the characters were relatable and sometimes fun and there was even some romance. There were enough red herrings to keep me guessing and the final denouement was wow!
I have not read the earlier books in the series but I had no issues with that.
Our protagonist is Athena Spencer who is a divorced Mom. After her divorce and the resulting financial difficulties she has moved back to her home town with her son and living and working with her father at the family garden center and helping out at her grandparents’ restaurant.
A rehearsal dinner, for which her sister Selena is a bridesmaid, is being held at the restaurant but the groom is late. His groomsmen run out to his apartment and discover that he’s been murdered-stabbed in the back with scissors. Those scissors belong to Selena and when other evidence is found, Selena is taken into police custody.
All the clues that point to Selena are a little obvious and Athena knows she is being framed. Because she feels the police won’t dig deeper if there is an obvious suspect she knows she needs to investigate. And so she does.
I received an ARC from Kensington via NetGalley-however, the opinions expressed are my own.
A Big Fat Greek Murder by Kate Collins is the second book in Ms. Collins’ A Goddess of Greene Street series.
I like Athena and her big and boisterous Greek family always provides some laughter when I read a book in this series. I love her anonymous blog that she writes regarding living the Greek life. Case has moved to Athena’s hometown and he jumps in to help Athena solve another murder mystery when Athene’s sister is framed for the deed. His return adds a touch of romance to the story without detracting from the mystery plot.
A tightly woven plot that moved quickly with several suspects, several twists and turns and plenty of red herrings that almost kept me from guessing correctly “who done it”. All in all, this is a fun cozy mystery that kept me entertained on a lazy afternoon. I look forward to many more books in this series.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Kensington Publishing via NetGalley. All of the above opinions are my own.
This entertaining, fast paced story is the 2nd in Kate Collins’ “Goddess of Greene Street” series. Athena is back along with her meddling Mom, Dad, 3 sisters, grandparents and son. Selene, her oldest sister, is accused of murdering Brady Rogers, who happens to be the groom in the wedding Selene is a bridesmaid for. Though Selene couldn’t stand the guy, the evidence is pointing at her doing the deed. Athena along with Case Donnolly, are teaming up once again to solve a murder, but is that all that’s going on with them?? With so many people with motive to kill Brady, how will Athena and Case narrow down the suspects – since the police are determined that Selene is guilty party.
I love this Greek family and all their antics.
I received an ARC for an honest review.
I loved the first book in The Goddess of Greene Street Mysteries, Statue of Limitations, so I was very excited to be able sit down and read book two, My Big Fat Greek Murder by Kate Collins. And in many ways it was as good, if not better than the first. I love the crazy, caring Greek family. And Delphi is fast becoming my favorite character with her psychic abilities, whether they are real or she’s just messing with her family, and I’m also loving where Delphi’s romantic life is going.
But, Kim, what about the main character, Athena? Well, I’m still enjoying her blog posts, dating mishaps, and in general. But I have some concerns. First, with her love life. I’m not a huge fan when the protagonist gets super jealous and I have a strong dislike for love triangles. I don’t think it’ll be going in the love triangle direction, and how Collins left the book could make for some funny moments in the future books, as long as Athena can get her jealousy under control.
And the thing that had me almost throwing the book into the wall, but I was reading on my Kindle and I didn’t want to break it, was towards the end when Athena had a key piece of evidence to help get her sister out of jail. Now I know in cozies, the protagonist will often hide information from the police or suddenly get really stupid, but it was a bit too much. She waits almost a day to see about it even though she or Case could have made time to find out and/or give it to Bob, the police officer who has been helping her. Numerous times in the book Athena’s dad gives her permission to leave work, anything to help her sister, and then suddenly she just can’t. I won’t even get into the final confrontation with the killer.
I was going to give My Big Fat Greek Murder three stars or even two because the evidence bit was so bad, but I ended up at four stars because Collins really is good at character development and writing about a family that is so caring and amusing. I will be cautiously optimistic when I read book three, and hope Athena doesn’t suddenly get erratically stupid or dive deeper down the jealousy hole.
small-business, small-town, cozy-mystery, family-dynamics, friendship, amateur-sleuth, cultural-heritage, situational-humor, verbal-humor
Athena’s sister Selene is the chief suspect in the murder of her friend’s groom-to-be due to the fact that her salon shears were stuck in his back and she has no alibi. The victim was a sleaze who worked in a gym and had a history with women, but Selene had ratted him out to management some time before so the local law added that to the physical evidence. Athena is part of a large Greek family in Sequoia, Michigan and has had some experience as an amateur sleuth, so she takes it all on with the help of a friend. Good sleuthing, interesting red herrings and plot twists, and some really good laughs. I really enjoyed it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley, Thank you!
When Athena shows up late at the Parthenon to help her family with the meal for the wedding rehearsal, she discovers that she’s not the only one late. The groom hasn’t shown up yet and isn’t answering his phone. Later he’s discovered at home with an expensive pair of shears in his back. Athena’s sister Selene’s shears from her salon to be exact. When all the signs are pointing to Selene as the killer, Athena decides to step in and solve the case. Well, Athena and Case. After helping Case clear his name, he’s decided to move to town and see about setting up a charter fishing company.
When Selene’s arrested, Athena and Case pull out all the stops to clear her name and get her out of jail and back into the family home.
While working to solve the groom’s death, Athena and Case become closer, but Athena’s jealousy doesn’t become her. Having to maneuver through her feelings to see Case has feelings for her as well is something that Athena didn’t seem ready to do, but I’m glad she did. But don’t worry, the romance doesn’t overpower the mystery aspect of this story. It blends in seamlessly and keeps you interested all the way through. This is the second book in the series, but the first I read. I didn’t feel like I needed to have read the first book, but now that I know it’s out there, I want to make sure to grab it.
I loved the whole family dynamic. Especially Athena and Selene’s mother. She’s truly a hoot!
If you’re a fan of cozy mysteries, big loud families, and a dash of romance, I think you’ll really enjoy this book!
**I received an ARC of this story from NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.