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Author: J.J. Cook
Genre: Cozy mystery
Pages: 295
Published: 2014
Man oh man, do I love cozy
mysteries. It’s one of my favorite genres that I don’t get to read often
enough, so I was thrilled to read Death on Eat Street, the
first in the new “Biscuit Bowl Food Truck” mystery series.
The story centers around
Zoe Chase, an Alabama girl and former banker turned diner owner. When she buys
an old run down diner in the sketchier side of town, she starts a food truck
company to try and make some money while renovating the diner and trying to get
it open. She serves her own special deep fried biscuit bowls from her truck,
along with her friend Ollie, from the homeless shelter down the street.
Business finally starts picking up and things are going great until a competing
food truck driver (from Tacky Tacos) winds up dead in HER food truck. Now there
are all sorts of people after Zoe, accusing her of stealing something very
valuable, and starting to turn violent. Already battling with her snobby family
who are disapproving of her new business endeavor, Zoe must rely on her new
friends and cute lawyer to help her track down the real killer before she gets
hurt.
This was a really fun and
fast paced mystery centering on two of my favorite things: food and the South!
I love all cozy mysteries, but as a foodie, I was particularly drawn to this
one for its story line and Southern setting. The cast is unique and varied,
from Zoe’s swamp-living Uncle Saul, to her down on his luck but intriguing (not
to mention CUTE) lawyer, to her conniving, snobby ex-boyfriend Tommy Lee; this
book has quite a colorful cast! I grew to really like the characters and was
really rooting Zoe on, hoping her new business would flourish, despite the
protestations from her family. I liked that she stuck to her guns and followed her
dreams, even when they didn’t align with her family’s vision and dreams for
her.
This story also had so many
twists and turns, with nearly every single chapter ending on a cliffhanger,
which really kept me turning the pages. I was constantly racing to find out
what drama would happen next.
I have a couple of minor
complaints, one being the constant cliffhangers, even though I enjoyed them a
lot too. I felt like there was just SO much action that I didn’t see quite as
much character development in Zoe that I would have liked. I really liked her
as a character, but would have really enjoyed getting an even better glimpse of
who she really was. Maybe this will happen in subsequent books? One other
little thing was that I would have liked to see was a bit more Southern-ness,
if that makes any sense. I knew it was set in the South, but aside from the
Southern cooking and some elaborate homes, I didn’t get quite the Southern feel
I was hoping for… y’all.
All in all though, I
thought this book was a lot of fun. I am really looking forward to future books
in this fresh new series!
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Reviewed by Stephanie
As always, feel free to call us to check on an item's availability at 720-4106, or try our Barnard Crossing Branch at 663-3357. You can also check our online catalog 24/7 at http://greecepubliclibrary.org/. Click on the title above to link directly to the item in our catalog!
Reviewed by Stephanie
As always, feel free to call us to check on an item's availability at 720-4106, or try our Barnard Crossing Branch at 663-3357. You can also check our online catalog 24/7 at http://greecepubliclibrary.org/. Click on the title above to link directly to the item in our catalog!
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