Emily Westhill runs the best donut shop in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin, alongside her retired police chief father-in-law and her tabby Deputy Donut. But after murder claims a favorite customer, Emily can’t rely on a sidekick to solve the crime—or stay alive.If Emily has learned anything from her past as a 911 operator, it’s to stay calm during stressful situations. But that’s a tall order when one of … a tall order when one of her regulars, Georgia Treetor, goes missing. Georgia never skips morning cappuccinos with her knitting circle. Her pals fear the worst—especially Lois, a close friend who recently moved to town. As evening creeps in, Emily and the ladies search for Georgia at home. And they find her—murdered among a scattering of stale donuts . . .
Disturbingly, Georgia’s demise coincides with the five-year anniversary of her son’s murder, a case Emily’s late detective husband failed to solve before his own sudden death. With Lois hiding secrets and an innocent man’s life at stake, Emily’s forced to revisit painful memories on her quest for answers. Though someone’s alibi is full of holes, only a sprinkling of clues have been left behind. And if Emily can’t trace them back to a killer in time, her donut shop will end up permanently closed for business . . .
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An entertaining debut featuring a great cast of central characters. Protagonist, Emily, opened the Deputy Donut Shop with her father-in-law after the death of her husband, Alec, a police detective. She has a clever, protective cat, ‘Dep’ who the shop is named after. When an elderly customer who is a knitter and a doll doctor doesn’t show up for a Knitpicker meeting at the shop, Em joins the other ladies in the group to go to her home and check on her. They find her murdered. Em, and her husband’s ex-partner, Brent; work closely with Lois, Georgia’s best friend; and some of Emily’s law enforcement contacts to establish a timeline of events before and after Georgia’s death. They must also figure out how her death could be related to the unsolved mystery of her son’s murder five years ago.
The story pacing is fast; the Wisconsin location is charming; there are red herrings galore; dry humor; and I didn’t realize the identity of the culprit until the protagonist put two and two together herself. I’m looking forward to reading book two.
Such a wonderful start to the Deputy Donut series. Emily, Brent, Tom, Dep, Misty, and the gang are great characters. I may have read this first book second, but you can bet I am going to be reading this whole series.
5/5 stars
When a regular customer at Deputy Donut doesn’t show up at her regular time, Emily is concerned. When she teams up with the rest of Georgia’s friends, they head over to Georgia’s house. When they find her dead and the evidence seems to be pointing towards Georgia’s best friend, Emily is determined to figure out what really happened.
I really enjoyed reading this cozy mystery. I really liked Emily as a character and I had a fun time getting to know her. The town is really cute and I’m loving all of the characters. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and didn’t want to put it down. I was taken completely by surprise at the end! I can’t wait to continue with this series!
“Survival of the Fritters” earns 5/5 Fluffy Fritters…Murderously Fun!
Ok, this is how it started…“Tom stopped coating hot apple fritters in that tantalizing mixture of cinnamon and sugar.” Tell me you wouldn’t pick up this book and start reading! I was very eager to join in with Ginger Bolton’s “Survival of the Fritters,” first book in her new Deputy Donut Mystery series, and along with a mini cookbook of easy-to-follow recipes for fritters, donuts, and sugar-coated pecans, I was treated to an engaging mystery with several entertaining characters. Bolton introduces Emily Westhill, former 911 operator and co-owner of Deputy Donut with her retired police chief/detective father-in-law and mascot “torbie,” a tortoiseshell tabby. But, the business may be in jeopardy when she and six members of the Knitpickers knitting club find Georgia Treetor, a regular café customer and herself a Knitpicker, lying among a scattering of stale donuts…dead! Lois Unterlaw, the victim’s “oldest” friend, herself seems to be in jeopardy and acting suspiciously. She seems perfect to provide insights, but may also be more suspect than innocent bystander.
Cold case revisited? Secrets? Lies? Mysteries? Murder? And…Donuts? Ginger Bolton has fried up a clever mystery with engaging twists, turns, and lots to consider. She has created an intricate mystery that incorporates a cold case that she and friends have in common. One “oops” I found contradictory since the main character has a formal link to and background in law enforcement: her 911 experience, late husband and father-in-law’s detective status, other detective/EMT friends…would she have messed with a crime scene by moving evidence? It’s a minor criticism, and although I suspend some disbelief with behaviors by my cozy’s amateur detectives, this seemed a faux pas needing to be addressed. The excellent descriptions of the cafe, the houses, the treats, the crime scene have brought everything to life. However, she didn’t rely just on the narrative to unfold the details, clues, and findings of investigation. The clever dialogue illustrated the formal and informal interrogations along with the personalities and emotions of a plethora of rich, some quirky, characters. And for those who love the fur-friends…”Dep” is just the answer. Yes! It was very entertaining! You’ve got to join in!
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Set in fabulous Wisconsin this book gets this series off to a wonderful start.
We meet widow Emily Westhill and her father-in-law Tom, owners of the local donut shop lovingly named after her tabby cat Deputy Donut. When one of their regulars fails to show up to meet her knitting circle her friends get worried. By the end of the day, Emily tags along with the group to see if something happened to Georgia at home. When they find the woman dead on the floor surrounded by donuts from Emily’s shop, Emily has to draw on her dispatch training to get them through the aftermath of their discovery. The woman’s son died on the same day 5 years ago. A case that stuck with both her husband and his partner. Since her husband’s death, Emily has steered clear of his partner Brent, but this new murder has brought them back together. Emily used to be a good sounding board for her husband. Can she and Brent work together to solve this murder?
This author also wrote the Threadville Mysteries as herself, Janet Bolin. A series I absolutely loved. So when I heard she was writing a series set in my home state I was over the moon.
This new set of characters is very captivating. The idea of Emily working with her father-in-law/retired police chief is such a fun idea. Everyone knows how much police officers love their donuts. Emily and Tom work well together and the shop has a set up where Deputy Donut “Dep” can watch over the whole place without getting in trouble with the health department. He is a very special cat too, attentive, inquisitive and very important to Emily, the donut shop, and this story. Emily’s friends, Misty, a police officer and Samantha, an EMT, have Emily’s back no matter what. Emily is a wonderful protagonist. You know right away she has a caring heart, but it is a little closed off dealing with the grief of losing her husband and guilt thinking had she been working the dispatch when the call came in that maybe he would still be alive.
The mystery itself is pretty complex. The suspect pool was very small until Emily did a lot of snooping in both in the cold case and the new one. To say I was shocked at the big killer reveal would be an understatement. I really enjoyed the ending, it sure got my heart rate escalating.
As I said, the story is set in Wisconsin, but it was Emily’s Fallingbrook home and yard that were very intriguing. Her place and her neighbors are connected in a unique way, and she didn’t know it until this mystery begins.
The author writes with a delightful descriptive style that makes the story flow so well. She drew me in quickly and I was actually sad when I reached the final page. I want to know these characters better. I am excited to see what happens next in their lives. Goodbye Cruller World hits bookstores August 28 and I can’t wait.
I really enjoy whatever Ginger Bolton writes. She has a wonderfully witty voice and makes the characters come alive. This particular mystery, with donuts included, was simply scrumptious.
This is a perfect book for people who love cozies. There is a very likeable main character who is a young widow who runs a donut bakery in a wonderful small town, her nice friends, a possible love interest, and her darling little cat, Deputy Donut, who doesn’t solve the mystery but certainly helps. Not gritty, sassy, graphic, or full of swearing. I loved it!
I could not get into this one. It lacked the humor or intrigue that is often part of the cozy mystery
It’s a fun quick read!
I really enjoyed this book. It had characters you could get to know and like, a cat, and a mystery. A great combination!
Loved it. Ready to read #2
Survival of The Fritters was a fun read. It was a murder mystery that had a few twists and turns which made it enjoyable. I liked the characters and wouldn’t mind reading other books by the author.
Good read
Most characters were pretty one dimensional and the person who ended up being the killer didn’t seem to fit. I won’t read the second book.
I skipped long segments just to hurry up and get to the end. Too much was about old high school relationships and “hunky guys” from high school. It was a teen novel sold as an adult cozy.
I loved it. Great author.
Who doesn’t love a good donut?! Well maybe someone with a gluten intolerance, but that aside many of us have a fond memory or two of having a warm donut with friends or family. Well, that is what Emily has created with her Father-in-Law – a donut shop that everyone loves to frequent. And yes it is true, the police in this town do love their donuts.
The mystery of who killed Georgia is quite involved and goes back many years. The clues that eventually lead us to the killer are not easy to decipher and lead the reader down various paths until the truth is revealed. I do think that Emily was too focused on a few potential suspects and may have put herself in harm’s way unnecessarily. But then this would not be a cozy mystery if the protagonist did not pull crazy stunts.
To round out the story there is a potential budding romance between Emily and Brent. Brent was her deceased husband’s partner on the police force and I think it took a lot for Brent to seem Emily in a potential romantic light. They definitely have some chemistry, so it will be interesting to see how that progresses.
We give this 3 paws. It is a great start to a new series, characters need a little more development but that will come with more books. I read the sneak peek for book two and it intrigues me already!
This was a great first book in a new series! Emily runs Deputy Donut with her father-in-law. She and the Knitpickers, a group of older women who knit at her shop, find one of the Knitpickers, Georgia, murdered in her house about 5 years after her son was murdered. Emily and Georgia’s friend, Lois, investigate to see who could have murdered the woman as well as possibly her son. Lois and her great-nephew become suspects, but Emily believes they are innocent. A delightful new series with interesting and intriguing characters and a cat named Deputy Donut. I look forward to more books in this series as well as hopefully a romance slowly develop between Emily and Brent.
Really enjoyed
What a great start to a promising series. I love little towns and reading about the people who live there. Emily is the perfect character for this series. She is sweet and loves being part owner of Deputy Donut. I just love that name for a shop. It sounds inviting and oh my the smells of delicious coffee brewing would drive anyone to her shop. She offers the most tantalizing donuts around and her regular customers are an assortment of fun characters.
I loved being introduced to the Knitpickers. What a wonderful assortment of older women who brighten the shop each day they are there. When one of the members doesn’t show up for their morning get together, the group becomes concerned. Georgia is always punctual and her tardiness is very suspicious. The author does a great job of leading us up to the murder with little clues that are hidden cleverly in hints throughout conversations. I was saddened by who was found dead because I wanted to get to know her better, She sounded so nice and fun to be around.
The author takes us on an adventure where suspects seem to come out of the woodwork. I kept thinking I knew who it was, but the author does a great job of adding details that make me start suspecting others. I liked the underlying story of Emily and Brent. This relationship has some history that is tragic and keeps them at arms length. I’m cheering for them to reconcile and deal with the past, but will it happen? The story is well written and I didn’t want it to end. It’s a great adventure and I loved the twists that the author throws in to keep readers on the edge of their seat. Don’t miss this first in a series that is action packed. The author has included recipes at the end of the book that you don’t want to miss.
I received a copy of this book from The Goodreads Giveaway Program. The review is my own opinion.