Book Review: Rum Luck by Ryan Aldred

Title: Rum Luck (A Bar on a Beach Mystery #1)
Author: Ryan Aldred
Genres: Mystery| Cozy
Print length: 258 pages
Publisher: Five Star Publishing
Publication date: June 22, 2016
Source: NetGalley
Format: e-galley
Author website: http://www.ryanaldred.com/

Sand. Monkeys. Murder. 

Ben Cooper was supposed to be on his Pacific honeymoon. Not waking up in a Costa Rican prison cell with no memory of the night before. 

Then again, Ben never thought he would catch his fiancée with some clown — literally. Or that his friend Miguel would drag him to the surf paradise of Tamarindo before Aunt Mildred could ask why they cancelled the open bar reception. 

But surely his friend and lawyer Victoria didn’t need to fly down from Toronto overnight. After all, the police would let him go once he sobered up and paid his fine. Right?
Except for the little matter of a murder. And Ben’s buying a beachside bar from the victim, hours before the man’s death. 

With foreclosure looming and death threats piling up on the rum-soaked bar, they must turn to the wild idea that got them into this mess—building a business around those who’ve always wanted to run their own bar on a beach somewhere, even for just a week. 

But to survive, they’ll need every skill at their disposal—including those they’d rather forget they have. Goodreads

The plot: After catching his fiancee cheating on him with a clown (literally. This scene is both hilarious and sad), Ben Cooper calls off the wedding and crashes on his best buddy Miguel's couch. After wallowing for a bit, they decide to use the non-refundable tickets to go to Costa Rica, Ben's planned honeymoon destination, to help take Ben's mind off his problems and get as far away from his ex-fiancee as possible.

However, he runs away from one problem and straight into another. One drunken night is enough to land Ben in jail, with a possible murder charge hanging over his head, and his joint account with his ex-fiancee wiped clean. From what Victoria, his friend and lawyer extraordinaire, managed to piece together, Ben bought a ramshackle beachside bar mere hours before the owner, Antonio, was brutally beaten to death.

With Ben as a murder suspect and serious debt accrued with this bar purchase, it's going to take everything that Ben, Miguel, and Victoria have to keep Ben out of jail and this bar afloat. Oh, and there's also the serious matter of the death threats they keep getting...

The character(s): Ben is your typical everyman, just a regular Canadian dude with a predilection for rum and a magnet that seems to pull trouble his way.

Miguel is originally from Colombia, where he served some time in the army and learned a certain set of skills that he prefers to keep hidden from Ben.

Victoria rounds out the trio. All three of them were friends in university, but Victoria went her separate way after graduation, getting swept up in the busy life of lawyering (that's a word, right?) at her father's prestigious firm. She starts off as the stereotypical ice queen, but we see her begin to thaw as she works hard to keep Ben out of trouble.

The mystery: The ending didn't come as a huge surprise, but there were still plenty of twists and turns along the way, and there was enough happening to keep the story interesting all the way through.

Final bite: This book is the perfect beach read. It's light and fun and very funny, but there is some depth and great writing there as well. Definitely recommended.

Best enjoyed while lying out in the sun, with a pitcher of sangria or an ice-cold rum punch nearby. Consume tequila at your own risk.

Rating: 4.25/5 

(Save Our Cozies!) Book Review: Death With All the Trimmings by Lucy Burdette

Next up on my Save Our Cozies reading list is:

Title: Death with All the Trimmings (A Key West Food Critic Mystery #5)
Author: Lucy Burdette
Genres: Mystery| Amateur Sleuth| Culinary| Cozy
Print length: 320 pages
Publisher: NAL
Publication date: December 2nd 2014
Source: Library
Format: Paperback
Author website: http://www.lucyburdette.com/

The only snow in Key West this Christmas is Hayley Snow, food critic for Key Zest magazine, who is not getting time off for the holiday…or time off from murder. 
It may be Christmastime, but thoughts of peace on earth, good will toward men, don’t seem to extend to the restaurant biz. Hayley has been assigned to interview Edel Waugh, chef/owner of Key West’s hottest new restaurant. But off the record, Edel reveals someone’s sabotaging her kitchen and asks Hayley to investigate.
Things heat up fast when the restaurant is set on fire—and a body is discovered in the charred wreckage. Is someone out to destroy the chef’s business—or actually kill her? Amid holiday festivities like the lighted boat parade and visiting relatives who stir up mixed emotions, Hayley needs to smoke out an arsonist and a killer who may turn up the heat on her next…
INCLUDES RECIPES!  Goodreads

The plot: It's Christmastime in Key West, but all is not jolly for Hayley Snow, struggling food critic, and our series sleuth. Her job security is shaky at best, her mother pops down for a surprise visit with her boyfriend in tow, her love life isn't looking any brighter, and the famous chef she's assigned to interview has a boatload of issues.

Edel Waugh, the owner/chef of the hot new restaurant in Key West, is desperate for her restaurant to be a success after breaking away from her established restaurant in New York, co-owned with her philandering ex-husband. However, a series of sabotage, arson, and a dead body are threatening her livelihood. She turns to Hayley to figure out who's behind all this and save her restaurant.

The characters: I have to confess to yet again picking up a series in the middle. However, my lack of knowledge of the previous books didn't hamper my reading enjoyment at all. The cast of characters felt fully realized to me, and I loved Hayley's relationships with the people within her community. 

Hayley is a very likeable character. That usually isn't necessary for me as a reader, but fairly important in a cozy series.

The mystery: I really enjoyed all the mysteries and plot twists, but when we got near the end, I found it a little...anti-climactic. It wasn't bad, but I definitely enjoyed the journey way more than the destination.

Final bite: The bits of food description were tantalizing, and I craved a Cuban sandwich and good cup of cafe con leche the whole time I was reading. The book was fun and interesting, and while I didn't love the ending, I enjoyed it enough to want to read the other books in the series.

Rating: 4/5 

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(Save Our Cozies!) Book Review: Beauty, Beast, and Belladonna by Maia Chance

Title: Beauty, Beast, and Belladonna (A Fair Tale Fatal Mystery #3)
Author: Maia Chance
Genres: Mystery| Amateur sleuth| Historical fiction| Fairy tale
Print length: 320 pages
Publisher: Berkeley
Publication Date: February 2nd, 2016
Source: Library
Format: Paperback
Author website: http://www.maiachance.com/ 

Variety hall actress Ophelia Flax knows how to win over an audience. That’s why she’s accepted the marriage proposal of the brutish Comte de Griffe to nettle her occasional investigative partner—and romantic sparring partner—the pompous if dashing Professor Penrose. 
But with his boorish table manners, wild mane of hair, and habit of prowling away the wee hours, the comte has shredded Ophelia’s last nerve. She intends to disengage from her feral fiancé at his winter hunting party—until Penrose, his lovely new fiancée, and a stagecoach of stranded travelers arrive at the comte’s sprawling château. Soon she can’t tell the boars from the bores.
When one of the guests is found clawed and bloody in the orangerie, Ophelia is determined to solve the murder before everyone starts believing the local version of Beauty and the Beast. But until the snows melt, she can’t trust her eyes—or her heart—since even the most civilized people hold beastly secrets...Goodreads

The plot: The classic fairy tale (and best Disney movie ever), Beauty and the Beast, is re-imagined as a fun take on the traditional mystery. 

Our heroine, Ophelia Flax, a former actress/circus performer/lord-knows-what-else, seems to have landed herself in a bit of trouble by agreeing to marrying the rich, yet brutish Comte de Griffe. He believes that she is a rich American heiress, a ruse that she is quickly becoming uncomfortable with. Before she can come clean and break off the engagement, the money she set aside for passage back to America mysteriously disappears. Her scheming companion Henrietta promises to reimburse her if Ophelia keeps up the charade long enough for Henrietta to seduce a rich acquaintance of the Comte. A conman named Forthwith jumps in on this scheme. Wacky hijinks ensue.

To further complicate things, Professor Penrose, a romantic entanglement from previous books, makes an appearance at the Comte's estate with his beautiful fiancee and future father-in-law in tow. To add to this ever-growing party, a stagecoach breaks down outside the Comte's gate and several mysterious strangers join our cast of characters.

Murder(s), snooping, false imprisonment, and a history lesson behind the original story of Beauty and the Beast follow this curious event.


The character(s): Ophelia Flax is our typical, plucky young American heroine. She is a consummate survivor, but with a strong moral code that demands she make her own way in life. Her unusual background within this world makes her a much more interesting character than most cozy heroines.

Beauty, Beast, and Belladonna is the 3rd book in the Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery series, and I must confess that I have yet to read the first two. My lack of knowledge on the series made it a little confusing in the beginning, because the pre-established relationships play a rather important role throughout the novel. However, I don't feel that it's necessary to read the previous books in order to enjoy the story.


The mystery: This book took some crazy twists and turns; most of them were interesting, others not so much. I went back and forth a few times on who the killer really was, but due to the complicated plot and surplus of characters, it was hard to really pin them down. Not sure if this is a positive point or not.

Final bite: This book was a pleasant departure from my usual culinary-inspired cozies, though the plot was a bit convoluted and the page length was a tad too long for a cozy. I'm in a weird position; I didn't care enough for the book to read the first two books in the series, but I liked it enough to read future volumes.

If you like historical mysteries and fairy tale-inspired stories, you will probably love this book.

Rating: 3.6/5

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