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Welcome to Honeybee’s diner, where the scent of butter and garlic wraps itself around you, thick and comforting. Jessie Haynes’ homestyle cooking feeds the hearts and souls of the good people of Willow Bluff. Until someone puts murder on the menu!

Y’all are invited to dig into a steamin’ plate of meatloaf. The diner’s well-worn red chairs have cradled folks from every corner of Willow Bluff—Jessie’s podcasting bestie, Tee, Old Mr Higgins, two mighty mischievous kittens, Biscuits and Gravy, and every tattling townsperson in between—so when the mayor turns blue after a bite of Jessie’s famous shrimp and grits, she finds herself in seriously hot water…

Suddenly, all eyes are swivelled toward Jessie. For fifty years, her family has fed Willow Bluff, and Jessie won’t let one mouthful shatter the legacy of her grandmother’s secret recipes. The mayor’s peanut allergy was the talk of the town, so when traces are found in his food, Jessie must fight to clear her name.

An empty peanut packet in the diner’s pantry has Jessie and Tee hot on the heels of the murderer when another case of food tampering occurs at a nearby bakery. Someone is dishing out delicious death sentences—but how many locals will get served before Jessie can crack the case? Her investigation must be a recipe for success or Honeybee’s will be toast…

This unputdownable, addictive cozy mystery is full of Southern charm, a gripping whodunit, and a feisty amateur sleuth. It’s perfect for fans of Ellery Adams, R. L. Killmore, and Joanne Fluke.

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

The lime-green blazer she wore was so aggressively bright it looked radioactive…

She inhaled and her pointy nose twitched like a rabbit sniffing the air for predators.

In a place like Willow Bluff, privacy was a luxury that disappeared the moment something interesting happened…

Don’t you have a condo to sell somewhere? Or a soul to find? Or literally anything better to do than eavesdrop on other people’s tragedy like it’s your favorite soap opera and you’re the star of the show?

But you know how folks are around here. They’d rather feast on scandal than swallow the truth.

That woman could start a fire in a rainstorm.

One gentleman from Macon wrote a haiku about your biscuits. Another one from Athens composed what I can only describe as a love sonnet dedicated to your macaroni and cheese.

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My Review:

 

This was a fun and engaging read that held my interest, piqued my curiosity, and kept me smirking with quirky, humorous, yet knowable descriptions of her offbeat and colorful characters throughout my perusal. Coming from a small town myself, I could well picture the judgmental, pearl-clutching, narrow-minded, and gossip-mongering hoard. I was surprised to see this was the author’s debut; she has penned an amusing, insightful, and well-plotted tale that kept me guessing as well as happily entertained.  However, it was murder for my diet as the vivid descriptions of her food offerings had me salivating.  I could practically smell her delicious meals, and her evocative words invoked massive hunger pangs and a disgruntled growling stomach.