kairosdreaming's review against another edition
3.0
I am a big fan of BBQ. Really, I could eat it every day no problem. So of course a mystery novel that would involve BBQ would be an eye-catcher for me. Well I found this book ok, not as much food description as I would have liked and highly predictable, but still cozy all the same.
Lulu is the proud owner of Aunt Pat's Bar-B-Que located in Memphis, TN. She is especially proud this week because a food scout/reporter from the Cooking Channel is coming to interview her for a segment on best bbqs. Lulu knows her food is good enough, she has several regulars to prove it; like the old blues playing gentlemen and the Graces (bit odd women who are docents for Graceland and obsessed with all things Elvis). But what she isn't prepared for is how rude the reporter is and how insulting. It is no great surprise when this same reporter ends up dead of poisoning not long after. Unfortunately for Lulu though, it was right after eating some BBQ. Even though the police are on the case, Lulu is determined to catch the murderer, but isn't happy when a lot of the clues lead her to her friends and family.
The characters in this book are very two-dimensional. It seems the author chose an attribute for each and then pounds that fact into our heads without developing them further. For an example, Lulu has a chef son Ben and Ben likes to hunt. We only know this because it is about the only thing said about him, and after all that, I still don't think he ever gets to go hunting. In fact, Lulu herself is the only one who is really more developed than the rest. But that is probably because she occupies a good part of the novel and we spend the most time with her. It seems the author could have cut down on the characters some instead of having tons and not developing them fully.
The plot was very predictable. I knew who the murderer was about 1/3 of the way into the book despite the author's best attempts to lead me elsewhere. She just made it too easy. She did throw in one little surprise, but it wasn't enough to save the book from the easy guessing game. It was nicely written, very cozy and a good light read. But for being a foodie novel I was a bit disappointed with how often food was mentioned. Sure it redeemed itself a bit with including recipes in the end, but I still would have liked to hear more about the food.
It's not a terrible book but it could have been a bit more mysterious. I did like reading it and it was a nice easy read to get into. It just would have been better if it was harder to solve the mystery and included more food. I'll probably check out some of the others in this like-genre though.
Delicious and Suspicious
Copyright 2010
269 pages + recipes
Review by M. Reynard 2011
Lulu is the proud owner of Aunt Pat's Bar-B-Que located in Memphis, TN. She is especially proud this week because a food scout/reporter from the Cooking Channel is coming to interview her for a segment on best bbqs. Lulu knows her food is good enough, she has several regulars to prove it; like the old blues playing gentlemen and the Graces (bit odd women who are docents for Graceland and obsessed with all things Elvis). But what she isn't prepared for is how rude the reporter is and how insulting. It is no great surprise when this same reporter ends up dead of poisoning not long after. Unfortunately for Lulu though, it was right after eating some BBQ. Even though the police are on the case, Lulu is determined to catch the murderer, but isn't happy when a lot of the clues lead her to her friends and family.
The characters in this book are very two-dimensional. It seems the author chose an attribute for each and then pounds that fact into our heads without developing them further. For an example, Lulu has a chef son Ben and Ben likes to hunt. We only know this because it is about the only thing said about him, and after all that, I still don't think he ever gets to go hunting. In fact, Lulu herself is the only one who is really more developed than the rest. But that is probably because she occupies a good part of the novel and we spend the most time with her. It seems the author could have cut down on the characters some instead of having tons and not developing them fully.
The plot was very predictable. I knew who the murderer was about 1/3 of the way into the book despite the author's best attempts to lead me elsewhere. She just made it too easy. She did throw in one little surprise, but it wasn't enough to save the book from the easy guessing game. It was nicely written, very cozy and a good light read. But for being a foodie novel I was a bit disappointed with how often food was mentioned. Sure it redeemed itself a bit with including recipes in the end, but I still would have liked to hear more about the food.
It's not a terrible book but it could have been a bit more mysterious. I did like reading it and it was a nice easy read to get into. It just would have been better if it was harder to solve the mystery and included more food. I'll probably check out some of the others in this like-genre though.
Delicious and Suspicious
Copyright 2010
269 pages + recipes
Review by M. Reynard 2011
bibliofiendlm's review against another edition
1.0
Did not finish. Boooooorrrrring. Lacked any punch that most fun food cozy mysteries have. Not my thing.
ms_aprilvincent's review against another edition
2.0
As someone who is Memphis-adjacent, and who loves bbq, I had high hopes for this series. Alas.
First, I wish more of Memphis itself had been included. The notes about the Peabody and Beale Street could have come from any Memphis travel guide; impersonal and generic, they were the standard description you'd see on brochures you pick up in a hotel lobby. The idea of a traditional front porch on Beale-- just, honey, no. A small side patio AT BEST, but no porch with rockers and yellow Labs.
Second, there were so many characters! I realize that it's necessary, in the first of a series, to spend time getting to know the players. However, the sheer multitude of people ensured that each filled a stock character role almost immediately: rich lady, quirky lady, old maid, sullen teenager, pageant girl, hippie art gallery owner, etc. There was no depth added once the label had been established.
Third, the murderer is not a believable choice, and the reveal came out of nowhere. No clues were given, other than the fact that everybody already hates this person, so it's convenient to get rid of him/her.
Finally, I couldn't connect to the main character. I can't explain why; she's basically a restaurant-owning Jessica Fletcher, so I should love her, but I don't.
I'll read the next in the series to see if there's improvement. Meanwhile, I'll be eating bbq for dinner tomorrow.
First, I wish more of Memphis itself had been included. The notes about the Peabody and Beale Street could have come from any Memphis travel guide; impersonal and generic, they were the standard description you'd see on brochures you pick up in a hotel lobby. The idea of a traditional front porch on Beale-- just, honey, no. A small side patio AT BEST, but no porch with rockers and yellow Labs.
Second, there were so many characters! I realize that it's necessary, in the first of a series, to spend time getting to know the players. However, the sheer multitude of people ensured that each filled a stock character role almost immediately: rich lady, quirky lady, old maid, sullen teenager, pageant girl, hippie art gallery owner, etc. There was no depth added once the label had been established.
Third, the murderer is not a believable choice, and the reveal came out of nowhere. No clues were given, other than the fact that everybody already hates this person, so it's convenient to get rid of him/her.
Finally, I couldn't connect to the main character. I can't explain why; she's basically a restaurant-owning Jessica Fletcher, so I should love her, but I don't.
I'll read the next in the series to see if there's improvement. Meanwhile, I'll be eating bbq for dinner tomorrow.
pagesplotsandpints's review against another edition
4.0
Initial Impressions 5/27/12: 3.5 stars
So this was a nice, easy read. I really enjoyed the Memphis atmosphere and that it took place in a BBQ joint. I had fun with it, and I didn't really identify with any of the characters, but it kept me guessing the whole book as to who the killer was. It was pretty enjoyable and I'd definitely be interested in continuing in the series to get a better basis of the characters.
Full review as originally seen on The Book Addict's Guide: This was a pretty quick read and mostly enjoyable. It didn't knock me off my feet or leave me pleasantly surprised like a few cozies that I've read recently. I think I go into most of these expecting it to be average and I think this one came out just above my expectations. I guess what it really came down to was that I didn't really relate to many of the characters. I didn't connect with Lulu because once they made the comparison of her competing with Paula Deen, that was how I pictured her for the rest of the novel, despite her accurate description. I think on some level, as much as I don't like to say that age is a factor to how I relate to characters, it still is and I think that affected me a little bit. But there was also the factor that I didn't really connect with anyone else in the book either. I never really felt like her children played a role as far as a personality presense goes (although a few fingers were pointed at them, bringing them in the spotlight a bit more). I actually really enjoyed the presense of the Graces who are a group of docents at Graceland. I liked the mix of ladies that ended up in their group, and it was nice to see the different personalities all pulled together just because they were Elvis fanatics. It brought a lot of color and a lot of comedy into the book. And weirdly enough, I really liked the prominence of the granddaughters Ella Beth and Coco. Ella Beth is quite a sharp little girl and it kind of reminded me how I was when I was a kid in a way.
As for the mystery, I was kept guessing until the end. A lot of fingers were pointed here and there and just when I thought it was one person, a new twist was revealed. It wasn't a super complicated plot, but I still had a lot of fun with it and I must have liked it well enough to finish it so quickly!
There are also recipes for some of the BBQ items in the back -- Even though we didn't follow the recipe, we did get inspired to make some ribs last night. Yum!!
So this was a nice, easy read. I really enjoyed the Memphis atmosphere and that it took place in a BBQ joint. I had fun with it, and I didn't really identify with any of the characters, but it kept me guessing the whole book as to who the killer was. It was pretty enjoyable and I'd definitely be interested in continuing in the series to get a better basis of the characters.
Full review as originally seen on The Book Addict's Guide: This was a pretty quick read and mostly enjoyable. It didn't knock me off my feet or leave me pleasantly surprised like a few cozies that I've read recently. I think I go into most of these expecting it to be average and I think this one came out just above my expectations. I guess what it really came down to was that I didn't really relate to many of the characters. I didn't connect with Lulu because once they made the comparison of her competing with Paula Deen, that was how I pictured her for the rest of the novel, despite her accurate description. I think on some level, as much as I don't like to say that age is a factor to how I relate to characters, it still is and I think that affected me a little bit. But there was also the factor that I didn't really connect with anyone else in the book either. I never really felt like her children played a role as far as a personality presense goes (although a few fingers were pointed at them, bringing them in the spotlight a bit more). I actually really enjoyed the presense of the Graces who are a group of docents at Graceland. I liked the mix of ladies that ended up in their group, and it was nice to see the different personalities all pulled together just because they were Elvis fanatics. It brought a lot of color and a lot of comedy into the book. And weirdly enough, I really liked the prominence of the granddaughters Ella Beth and Coco. Ella Beth is quite a sharp little girl and it kind of reminded me how I was when I was a kid in a way.
As for the mystery, I was kept guessing until the end. A lot of fingers were pointed here and there and just when I thought it was one person, a new twist was revealed. It wasn't a super complicated plot, but I still had a lot of fun with it and I must have liked it well enough to finish it so quickly!
There are also recipes for some of the BBQ items in the back -- Even though we didn't follow the recipe, we did get inspired to make some ribs last night. Yum!!
abwright's review against another edition
2.0
This book really annoyed me. I had to finish it just because I wanted to know who the killer was. However, there were too many characters and the author wrote from all of their viewpoints. Lulu annoyed me, and absolutely no one would just tell the cops what they knew but they were more than happy to open up to Lulu. If the cops had just asked the right questions, the second person wouldn't have been dead...
And let's just face it, once you found out who did it, it was just lame...
I will not be reading the rest of this series.
And let's just face it, once you found out who did it, it was just lame...
I will not be reading the rest of this series.
tregina's review against another edition
2.0
I am still on my quest to find a cozy mystery series that I love. This was not it. At best, it made me hungry. (Actually, it makes me hungry just thinking about it.) But the POV drifted from head to head constantly, the characters were almost all one-dimensional, and there was no urgency to the murder mystery at all.
jemifraser's review against another edition
Great mystery and awesome characters! Really enjoyed this! :)
smiley7245's review against another edition
3.0
Cute. Not the best cozy mystery I have ever read, but not the worst either. Having the protagonist be a grandmother was not something I was expecting, but it was kind of a nice change. I was hoping that the "bad guy" would turn out to be someone specific, and I was right. I will read another book in this series, I'm just not sure when.
nutti72's review against another edition
I so wanted to like this book and didn't.
rebeccasreadingrambles's review against another edition
3.0
This was an okay mystery. Lots and lots of suspects (basically the whole town), but I guessed the main culprit pretty quickly. I liked the characters well enough, but I just wasn't totally sucked into this town and it's story. Lulu was nice, but spent most of the time fixing everyone's problems and investigating very little. A lot of personal problems for characters that we just met. I wonder what is left for drama in future books. The mystery was okay, but not spectacular. Not sure if I will continue with this series or not. I might give it another try, but when I don't fully connect with characters I lose interest quickly.