peggyemi's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first book in a new series by Gayle Leeson and while I liked it, I didn't like it as much as I thought I would based upon some of the other reviews that I have read. The book is well written and has a nice steady pace that moves the story along. It has a well crafted mystery and wonderful characters. My problem was with Amy's insistence that she had to solve the murder herself because she was a suspect and "her life was on the line." For me, this part of the story just didn't resonate. Other than after she found the body, Amy was not questioned by the police and Deputy Hall told her that while she was a suspect because she found the body he didn't believe she was the killer. To make Amy's belief more credible for me, I would have liked the author to provide more evidence and/or clues, even if circumstantial, that pointed to Amy as the killer.
In sum, I thought the story was well written with a steady pace that kept the reader turning page with a nicely crafted mystery and full, round characters. I just had trouble with Amy's instance that she had to find the killer because her life was on the line. I liked the book well enough that I will give the second book in the series a try when it is released.
In sum, I thought the story was well written with a steady pace that kept the reader turning page with a nicely crafted mystery and full, round characters. I just had trouble with Amy's instance that she had to find the killer because her life was on the line. I liked the book well enough that I will give the second book in the series a try when it is released.
jodyladuemcgrath's review against another edition
4.0
This is the first book in the new Down South Café Mystery series by Gayle Leeson.
Amy Flowers is sick and tired of her job as a waitress at Lou's Joint cafè. She was professionally trained as a chef and if tired of being belittled and bullies by her boss Lou Lou. She puts in her notice and offers to buy the place, her dream always having been to own her own cafè, but Lou Lou is determined not to sell. When Lou Lou's son calls her and asks her to meet him and his mom at the cafè to talk about a sale, Amy is doubtful but hopeful. When she arrives, she finds herself alone with Lou Lou, and Lou Lou is clearly dead. Being suspected of homicide is not what Amy was planning to put on the menu!
This was a great start to a cozy mystery. The characters were interesting and either likable or despicable. Amy was a fun narrator with a sense of humor, curiosity, but not TSTL. The mystery itself was a little too simple and even the twists were pretty easy to figure out. I don't think it is because I have read a lot of mysteries either. I just think it was blatantly obvious. That did not stop me from enjoying the book though. I will definitely be checking out the next book in this series. (It has recipes also!!!)
Amy Flowers is sick and tired of her job as a waitress at Lou's Joint cafè. She was professionally trained as a chef and if tired of being belittled and bullies by her boss Lou Lou. She puts in her notice and offers to buy the place, her dream always having been to own her own cafè, but Lou Lou is determined not to sell. When Lou Lou's son calls her and asks her to meet him and his mom at the cafè to talk about a sale, Amy is doubtful but hopeful. When she arrives, she finds herself alone with Lou Lou, and Lou Lou is clearly dead. Being suspected of homicide is not what Amy was planning to put on the menu!
This was a great start to a cozy mystery. The characters were interesting and either likable or despicable. Amy was a fun narrator with a sense of humor, curiosity, but not TSTL. The mystery itself was a little too simple and even the twists were pretty easy to figure out. I don't think it is because I have read a lot of mysteries either. I just think it was blatantly obvious. That did not stop me from enjoying the book though. I will definitely be checking out the next book in this series. (It has recipes also!!!)
meezcarrie's review against another edition
4.0
Such a fun book! I was hooked from the first chapter and stayed that way through the entire story. A town full of engaging characters, a very compelling main character, a hint of romantic possibility with the hunky police detective (plus a bonus secondary romance behind the scenes!), food to make you drool, and a case that kept me guessing – all of these things put The Calamity Cafe at the top of my cozy mystery list!
The mystery in The Calamity Cafe is layered just enough to stay interesting but not complicated enough to lose the “cozy”. I enjoyed unraveling the various threads along with Amy and her friends (and hunky Ryan), particularly the “sacrifice of the big hair” she endured for the sake of some intelligence gathering.
The characters are fun and friendly, and I would love to stop in at the Down South Cafe for a sausage biscuit with Homer or a piece of oatmeal pie with Jackie and a chat with Amy. I’d also totally be one of those tourists who would grab a t-shirt and/or apron while I was at it.
Bottom Line: A cleverly constructed plot, well-written characters, and a setting that feels like the town next door all blend together to form the perfect recipe for a new series! Gayle Leeson (and her alter ego Amanda Lee) is now on my go-to list of cozy mystery authors, and I am looking forward to future installments in this series while I catch up on her backlist. Cute, clean, and cozy, The Calamity Cafe has all the right ingredients for a great read!
(I received a copy of this book in exchange for only my honest review.)
Read my full review at Reading Is My SuperPower
The mystery in The Calamity Cafe is layered just enough to stay interesting but not complicated enough to lose the “cozy”. I enjoyed unraveling the various threads along with Amy and her friends (and hunky Ryan), particularly the “sacrifice of the big hair” she endured for the sake of some intelligence gathering.
The characters are fun and friendly, and I would love to stop in at the Down South Cafe for a sausage biscuit with Homer or a piece of oatmeal pie with Jackie and a chat with Amy. I’d also totally be one of those tourists who would grab a t-shirt and/or apron while I was at it.
Bottom Line: A cleverly constructed plot, well-written characters, and a setting that feels like the town next door all blend together to form the perfect recipe for a new series! Gayle Leeson (and her alter ego Amanda Lee) is now on my go-to list of cozy mystery authors, and I am looking forward to future installments in this series while I catch up on her backlist. Cute, clean, and cozy, The Calamity Cafe has all the right ingredients for a great read!
(I received a copy of this book in exchange for only my honest review.)
Read my full review at Reading Is My SuperPower
ncrabb's review
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but in fairness, I have to say much of my pleasure came from listening to Cassandra Morris's magnificent presentation. I suspect her accent is real, and it's perfect for this book. She has a lovely highly listenable voice, and her pacing and cadence is excellent.
Amy Flowers has been to culonary school, and she knows she can turn around the crummy restaurant in her small hometown. The problem is, the hateful owner of the place, for whom Amy works, won't sell. Amy got a nice little inheritance from her grandmother, and she wants to use that to rebuild the local cafe and use some of her recipes.
When she gets word that her former boss is prepared to sell the cafe to Amy, she goes to the office to sign the papers only to find the woman dead. Amy gets to buy the restaurant eventually, but she worries about being a suspect. She has to clear her name before she can consider her efforts a success. I would read additional books in this series.
Amy Flowers has been to culonary school, and she knows she can turn around the crummy restaurant in her small hometown. The problem is, the hateful owner of the place, for whom Amy works, won't sell. Amy got a nice little inheritance from her grandmother, and she wants to use that to rebuild the local cafe and use some of her recipes.
When she gets word that her former boss is prepared to sell the cafe to Amy, she goes to the office to sign the papers only to find the woman dead. Amy gets to buy the restaurant eventually, but she worries about being a suspect. She has to clear her name before she can consider her efforts a success. I would read additional books in this series.
jbrooxd's review against another edition
4.0
Great cozy. Love the characters. And the main character's food sounds delicious!
springinseptember's review against another edition
Sometimes I need a background track to when I’m working on baking a cake or making pastries. Cozy cafe mysteries are just that. I listened to this on an audiobook pausing and getting back to it whenever I entered the kitchen, there isn’t anything out of the ordinary, the narration is calm enough (though kind of childish). The story is exactly what I expected, and was looking for when I bought it, a companion to my cozy home cafe adventures.
dianchie's review against another edition
2.0
I thought this one might be better but I was wrong. It was predictable and the writing got old quickly which is saying something because cozy mysteries are formulaic to begin with.
nitabee's review against another edition
3.0
The Calamity Cafe introduces us to Amy Flowers, a waitress who has a culinary degree and dreams of owning her own cafe. She took the serving job when she moved back to her hometown to help care for her Nana, who's now passed away, leaving Amy with a sizeable inheritance to pursue her dreams. Amy's boss is a woman named Lou Lou, who's quite mean and nobody really likes. Amy offers to purchase the cafe from Lou Lou, since that would be cheaper than getting started from the ground up with her own place, but Lou Lou flat out refuses. Imagine Amy's surprise when she gets a call from Lou Lou's 40 year old son, Pete, telling her he's talked his mama into taking the offer, mostly so she can achieve her lifelong dream of going to Hawaii. Amy's supposed to meet Lou Lou, Pete, and the local attorney at the cafe after hours to discuss the sale, and .
I liked Amy, and the cafe she renovates sounds precious. Her cousin Jackie and their third BFF Roger play a large role in the book, and Amy's trying to match-make them. Amy has her own love interest show up, a handsome deputy, and he seems smitten with her.
Spoiler
of course the only person there when Amy arrives is Lou Lou's dead body. The mystery isn't very easy to figure out, but it ends up being a ne'er-do-well sort of fellow, Stan, who was actually Lou Lou's ex-husband's son, making him Pete's half-brother. He's incensed because Lou Lou has a bunch of cash from when her grandfather robbed a bank way back when - he was never caught, and the money was hidden away, and Stan wants it for himselfI liked Amy, and the cafe she renovates sounds precious. Her cousin Jackie and their third BFF Roger play a large role in the book, and Amy's trying to match-make them. Amy has her own love interest show up, a handsome deputy, and he seems smitten with her.
paperbackstash's review against another edition
2.0
The premise is intriguing and there are colorful characters to spice up the story, but ultimately experience comes across flat. Most of the book focused on the nitty gritty details and dreams of the MC to renovate a cafe - while cooking themes are intriguing, reading about having sausage biscuits every day gets old when it's repeated every chapter. There was too much focus on the construction, ideas and plans of laying out the building. Dare I say it went from flavorful to dense because of the weight of these details?
The obvious romantic interest was obvious from the start and applied with zero subtlety. He was downright boring, too, which doesn't help.
The main character is unrealistically worried about being a major suspect when it's obvious it's unlikely anything will be tied to her - she's never even brought to the station for questions. Every once in awhile the grandmother/mom pair would come for needed humor, but it felt mainly forced.
To top it off with the worst piece, I pre-guessed the killer since this person was one of the only suspicious ingredients in a slow-simmering plot. The twist wasn't inventive so the wait out didn't pay off.
Fans of the food cozy may want to try a bite of this one, but I'm hoping the series gets better with age. I probably won't try the next one - it played up the Southern flaire a bit too much for me - but I can say I've now heard of two new foods I want to try.
May try the meatloaf recipe in the back (although keep some of my main staple ingredients), but will definitely be trying that Oatmeal pie. There's a nice portion of generous recipes that all look delicious.
The obvious romantic interest was obvious from the start and applied with zero subtlety. He was downright boring, too, which doesn't help.
The main character is unrealistically worried about being a major suspect when it's obvious it's unlikely anything will be tied to her - she's never even brought to the station for questions. Every once in awhile the grandmother/mom pair would come for needed humor, but it felt mainly forced.
To top it off with the worst piece, I pre-guessed the killer since this person was one of the only suspicious ingredients in a slow-simmering plot. The twist wasn't inventive so the wait out didn't pay off.
Fans of the food cozy may want to try a bite of this one, but I'm hoping the series gets better with age. I probably won't try the next one - it played up the Southern flaire a bit too much for me - but I can say I've now heard of two new foods I want to try.
May try the meatloaf recipe in the back (although keep some of my main staple ingredients), but will definitely be trying that Oatmeal pie. There's a nice portion of generous recipes that all look delicious.
debrajoreads's review against another edition
5.0
I’ve seen this book many times and there’s been a recent new release in the series, so I decided to read it.
I can’t pinpoint one thing specifically that stood out, because it was everything working together for me to give this 5 stars.
The setting was small town but not touristy small town. I adored the characters. The plot was very interesting and there were twists throughout. Although I suspected the culprit early on, the reveal as to why was a twist.
I really enjoy the diner setting in a cozy mystery and look forward to that going forward in the series.
The core cast has great chemistry and are quite humorous. I’m not a huge romance fan but there are a couple budding romances and totally rooting for them.
I listened to the audio version of this book and it was adorable. I really enjoyed the narrator and felt she added more to the story.
I can’t pinpoint one thing specifically that stood out, because it was everything working together for me to give this 5 stars.
The setting was small town but not touristy small town. I adored the characters. The plot was very interesting and there were twists throughout. Although I suspected the culprit early on, the reveal as to why was a twist.
I really enjoy the diner setting in a cozy mystery and look forward to that going forward in the series.
The core cast has great chemistry and are quite humorous. I’m not a huge romance fan but there are a couple budding romances and totally rooting for them.
I listened to the audio version of this book and it was adorable. I really enjoyed the narrator and felt she added more to the story.