Three Widows and a Corpse by Debra Sennefelder is the third A Food Blogger Mystery. Hope Early is participating in the town’s annual scavenger hunt which benefits the local community center. Her team stops at Avery Bistro to obtain an item on the list when Hope notices a familiar looking car in the back parking lot. She wanders over to find the driver’s side door open and real estate developer, Lionel Whitcomb dead on the ground. It soon becomes apparent that in addition to Lionel’s shady business dealings, he was also a bigamist. There are three women claiming to be his wife. Hope has no intention of getting involved with the case, but her natural curiosity wins out. The killer is not happy with Hope’s nosiness and issues a series of warnings. Three Widows and a Corpse can be read as a standalone for those new to this series. Hope Early is a food blogger and is working on an article for Cooking Now magazine as well as taking care of her animals and working on her home. I found Three Widows and a Corpse easy to read and it moved along at a steady pace. Jane Merrifield and her sister, Sally are back along with Drew Adams (reporter and friend), Ethan Cahill (Chief of Police and boyfriend), and Claire Dixon (sister). When Hope stumbles upon Lionel Whitcomb’s body, she states she is not going to investigate which pleases Detective Sam Reid and Ethan Cahill. However, Hope cannot help but ask questions especially when witnesses keep showing up at her home unannounced. Hope asks questions while plying them with her culinary delights. Of course, she is told by Detective Reid and Ethan several times to stay out of the investigation. The guilty party warns Hope off, but it just makes Hope more determined expose the killer. There are several suspects along with misdirection and direct clues. Readers will have no problem identifying the killer long before the solution is revealed. There is mild foul language in this novel. Three Widows and a Corpse is the perfect story for those readers who enjoy lighthearted, food related mysteries. Three Widows and a Corpse is an amiable cozy mystery with a troublesome two-timer, warring widows, a scavenger search, a sad sibling, and a repressive reporter. ( )

Three Widows and a Corpse is the first book I’ve read in the Food Blogger Mysteries, and as with any good meal at a restaurant, I’ll be coming back for more. Debra Sennefelder does a fantastic job writing a protagonist that I would love to be, and Sennefelder already was, having ran a food blog for many years. I really enjoyed that Hope was a food blogger since in all the food cozies I’ve read the main character is usually a chef, baker, restaurant or cafe owner. Getting a glimpse into a food bloggers life was a fun treat.

As well as enjoying Hope’s character, Sennefelder works wonders with the rest of the people in the book. Quite a few I could see becoming friends with, and Sennefelder also gives us great quirky characters and antagonists that are, well… antagonizing.

What drew me to this book, besides the gorgeous house and landscaping on the cover, is the small town’s annual scavenger hunt. I’m always down for a scavenger hunt, escape room, or murder mystery party. While the scavenger hunt ended early, that’ll happen when you find a dead body, it was still a fun draw to the book. And the town of Jefferson, Connecticut seems adorable, someplace I would love to visit and look forward to continuing to read about in future books in the series.

Although I did know the killer early on, my podcast partner, Jessica, didn’t know until the reveal at the end. I’m going to say I knew just because I read a lot of cozies, and since this is the first one I’ve read of the Food Blogger Mysteries, this person just seemed to stand out to me. Perhaps if I started the series with book one, The Uninvited Corpse, I wouldn’t have been able to spot the murderer so soon or at all.

A great read and I’m looking forward to more in the Food Blogger mysteries, as well as trying out Sennefelder’s other series, The Resale Boutique Mysteries.

If you would like to hear about Debra Sennefelder’s upcoming books, writing style, and more, check out the author interview Jessica and I did with her on, Books Don’t Review Themselves. ( )

murder-investigation, cozy-mystery, amateur-sleuth, culinary

I never knew that there was such a thing as a food blogger!
We don't get an extensive picture of the creep before he is murdered, but afterwards is a whole other story. He was a shady businessman facing probable felony charges, and it turns out that he never completely finalized the divorces from his first two wives (who just happened to be in town the day he got murdered) and his third wife is at least as obnoxious as one of the local reporters. Food blogger Hope has more than enough to keep her busy when she finds the body (another one!), but things only get worse as each of the widows keeps pointing at everyone else. Hope's romantic interest is the local Chief of Police who wants her to stay out of the investigation, but life just doesn't work that way!
It's a good read with realistic characters and a sound mystery plot. I liked it.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. ( )