In Laura Childs’s New York Times bestselling mystery series, Suzanne, Petra, and Toni—co-owners of the Cackleberry Club café—are back to track down another bad egg… Maintaining good personal relationships with their suppliers is one of the secrets of the Cackleberry Club café’s success, so Suzanne doesn’t mind going out to Mike Mullen’s dairy farm to pick up some wheels of cheese. She’s … some wheels of cheese. She’s looking forward to a nice visit with the mild-mannered farmer before heading back to their hectic kitchen.
But when she arrives, Mike’s nowhere to be found. The moaning of his cows leads her to look in the barn, where she discovers a bloodcurdling sight—the farmer’s dead body. Apparently not everyone was as fond of Mike Mullen as the Cackleberry Club.
Churning with grief and outrage, Suzanne, Petra, and Toni vow to find the farmer’s murderer—but as they get closer to the truth, the desperate killer gets whipped into a frenzy and plans to put the squeeze on them…
RECIPES INCLUDED!
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Three (3) stars to Laura Childs’s Egg Drop Dead, her seventh in the “Crackleberry Club” mystery series. I don’t usually read books in the middle of a series, but I won a copy of this book and decided to start midway. I will go back and read the others as it’s a fun series.
Story
Suzanne and her friends, Petra and Toni, are from the Crackleberry Club, a local shoppe full with an eatery, knitting store and a book nook. When Suzanne stumbles upon a very dead Mike Mullens, who normally provides all her dairy products, she’s shocked and feels compelled to help the local police investigate. As she investigates the widow, the sneaky horse salesman, the peculiar new dairy salesman, the autistic young man with a difficult mother and the lecherous but handsome real estate developer, she begins to put the picture together. It all culminates in a Halloween event full of fright, where even Suzanne realizes how many clues she missed along the way.
Strengths
Strong cast of characters. Good scenery. Obvious backstory we learn just enough about to entice us to read more. Fair balance of relationships and complexity among everyone.
Easy read. It took me 2 days (over a 5-day period as I couldn’t read several of them!) and the pages fly by quickly.
Suggestions
The culprit and/or motive (don’t want to spoil anything) came a little out of left field. If it’s tied together, I don’t mind, which it was — just a little too loosely this time. It was a little too predictable how it happened and I’m not sure readers would be able to figure it out on their own without pulling the proverbial rabbit from the holey hat.
I wanted to know more about the dead guy to feel a little more interest in his character. He felt a bit like just any ole’ guy that got himself killed… being a mystery buff, I’m fine with that; however, it would jump up a notch with more detail and background.
Final Thoughts
Cute series. I’ll chance a few others. I’m curious how the name Crackleberry fits in, as well as the title. It had nothing to do with the mystery as far as I can tell!
Are you ready for an egg-celent book? (Sorry – I just had to!) Egg Drop Dead is the seventh book in Laura Childs’ Cackleberry Club Mystery Series. When Suzanne goes to pick up cheese from her local dairy farmer, she finds him murdered. Who could have possibly wanted this nice man dead? Suzanne is determined to find out!
Here are my top reasons you should check out this book (that was just released in paperback this week).
It’s About More Than Just Eggs
This is the first installment of the Cackleberry Club Mystery Series that I have read. All the book titles involve eggs and honestly I wasn’t sure what to expect. But the Cackleberry Club serves more than just eggs. It is a local farm-to-table restaurant run by three friends. Shame on me for not figuring this out sooner! I loved the setting of this series and can’t wait to go back and catch up on the pervious installments.
The Tasty Treats
This has been how I have read the last two Laura Childs books I have picked up. Open book. Flip to the back of the book. No, not to read the ending, but to read the recipes. Laura always has some great recipes to share and I love getting an early look at them so I know what they are when I come across them in the book. I marked a couple in this book I can’t wait to try at home in the coming weeks. Harvest Pumpkin Soup and Petra’s Molasses Bread?!? Yum!
A Fast Paced Story
I inhaled this book. It went everywhere with me the last couple days and I’d sneak in a couple pages whenever I could. The story flows well and keeps you hooked until the very end.
Laura Childs Serves Up A Winner
For a fast paced cozy mystery full of fun and small town charm, pick up a copy of Egg Drop Dead today. I have found a new series to follow for sure!
https://cozyexperience.com/reasons-read-egg-drop-dead-giveaway/
Read 3.25.2021
Well written, making reading easy and fast. No extraneous words.