I enjoyed this book to spite the mixed reviews. It did remind me of the Hannah Swenson mysteries, but I will continue to read this series. ( )

Suzanne Hart divorced her husband and bought a donut shop, giving herself a new start to life. Unfortunately, one morning she sees a dead body being dumped in front of her shop. After she calls the police, she finds that the body is none other than Patrick Blaine, a regular customer of hers. When she thinks the police aren't circling in fast enough on a suspect, she decides that she'll look for the killer on her own, even if it puts her in danger of being the next victim...

I really wanted to like this book, but there were several things wrong with it, the main thing being that I couldn't find any relationship between Patrick and Suzanne. Yes, he was a customer, but so were many others. As to being friends? Customers aren't friends. They're customers. Friends are people you call, do things with, see occasionally. I couldn't find a relationship between these two. She knew nothing about his life, never had even so much as a lunch with him. So that gave me pause as to why she would be investigating his murder in the first place.

I also felt that this book could have been set anywhere in the United States, since the only mention to it being in North Carolina was the mountain view. There were no descriptions of the town, none of the area around at all. Descriptions are important. We're also given very little description of Suzanne or anyone else. Basic, but that's about all. I know that this author is a man using a pseudonym of a woman, but we do like to know details so we can create images in our minds of the people we're reading about.

Why would her friend Grace be investigating so willingly? I could see it if Grace worked for a newspaper, but she was in sales. I also felt that Suzanne left Emma alone too much. Since Suzanne closed the shop at noon, what was preventing her from investigating after that time, instead of before it? It certainly would have made more sense in the long run. Oh, well.

The mystery itself was fine, but nothing special. If the police were actually intelligent, they would have closed in on the killer themselves before Suzanne did, and it would have been obvious at some point. Everyone was clueless until the very end, including Jake, which surprised me. I know this series has gone on for quite awhile, and my only guess is because of the donut recipes. (I do make my own donuts, for those wondering if anyone does; however I also use my own recipes, and wouldn't be inclined to buy these books just for that.) Two stars for the writing, which was fine, but I still feel let down by the ending. ( )

The book starts out slow. The characters are a bit flat. A body is dumped in front of the donut shop just as Suzanne is turning on her lights. She realizes the body is that of a friend and customer and feels the need to investigate. ( )

What can I say? This book was really quite silly. The heroine's motivation for investigating this murder can best be summed up as "because." She makes doughnuts and in the first five chapters the reader is introduced to a cast of townsfolk - the grizzled ex-cop, the sassy best friend, the gossipy neighbor. Very unoriginal. After five chapters I skipped ahead to the end and wasn't particularly surprised by who the killer was. ( )

In the wee hours of the morning, donut shop owner Suzanne Hart is surprised to see a body dumped on the road in front of her shop just as she is arriving to start making the donuts. The murdered man, banker Patrick Blaine, is a regular customer. Although Suzanne didn't see enough to identify the murderer, the killer may not know that. When it seems the police aren't acting quickly enough, Suzanne launches her own investigation with the help of retired cop George and her best friend, Grace. One possibility is that Blaine was murdered by a dirty cop, so state policeman Jake Bishop is there to both assist with the investigation and to keep an eye on the local police. It's soon clear that his interest in Suzanne is more than professional. Suzanne's ex-husband, Max, is hanging around too much for Suzanne's comfort. Is he just jealous, or could he have been involved in Blaine's murder?

I enjoyed the characters and the setting in small town North Carolina. The mystery plot had several holes. It's surprising how many people Suzanne doesn't know and vice versa in a small town where she's lived all 30-something years of her life. Some of the awkwardness may be because this is the first book in a series and the characters haven't quite gelled. I liked it well enough to try the next couple of books in the series to see if it starts to click. ( )