A review by krisrid
Guilty as Cinnamon by Leslie Budewitz
2.0
This was yet another situation where I loved the first in a cozy series, but with the second the spark did not hold up. I did not finish this and won't be continuing with the series.
For some reason, the main character of Pepper came across in this book as pushy and crabby. It felt like she spent a lot of time feeling sorry for herself, and blaming other people for it. I can't even quite put my finger on it, but I just didn't connect to Pepper in this book the way I did in the first book.
I also missed the spice shop, its lore and info about spices and the whole spice shop vibe that was a big feature for me in the first book. Because the murder took place in a restaurant, and the main suspect was the chef from another restaurant, the locations and focus were much more about the running of, and situations in a restaurant which wasn't as interesting for me. I kept waiting for Pepper to go back to her shop so we could talk about spices instead of bitchy sous-chefs and backstabbing in the restaurants.
It always disappoints me when a cozy series starts off well, but then doesn't maintain its charm for me in subsequent books. On to the next.
For some reason, the main character of Pepper came across in this book as pushy and crabby. It felt like she spent a lot of time feeling sorry for herself, and blaming other people for it. I can't even quite put my finger on it, but I just didn't connect to Pepper in this book the way I did in the first book.
I also missed the spice shop, its lore and info about spices and the whole spice shop vibe that was a big feature for me in the first book. Because the murder took place in a restaurant, and the main suspect was the chef from another restaurant, the locations and focus were much more about the running of, and situations in a restaurant which wasn't as interesting for me. I kept waiting for Pepper to go back to her shop so we could talk about spices instead of bitchy sous-chefs and backstabbing in the restaurants.
It always disappoints me when a cozy series starts off well, but then doesn't maintain its charm for me in subsequent books. On to the next.