A Clue in the Stew by Connie Archer - #review #giveaway

Soup shop owner Lucky Jamieson stirs up more trouble in the latest mystery from the national bestselling author of Ladle to the Grave…

When Lucky Jamieson opens up By the Spoonful to host an event with a famous author, she’s not expecting a bunch of nuts to descend on her small-town soup shop. But the author’s exasperating entourage—from a prickly publicist to a snippy son and his tipsy wife—give fresh meaning to the phrase, too many cooks spoil the broth.

The evening is more than spoiled, however, when it ends with a homicide. When the manner of the murder—as well as another recent unsolved crime—echoes the author’s fiction, Police Chief Nate Edgerton realizes he has a copycat killer on his hands. And Lucky hopes that one of her regular customers who has mysteriously gone missing isn’t involved. Once again, the soup shop owner will need to stir up some clues to find her friend and catch a cunning killer—before things really take a tureen for the worse…

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MY REVIEW

If cozy mysteries are a sub-genre of mysteries in general, and food cozies are a sub-sub-genre of cozies, then each 'course' must be a sub x 3 genre.  And I dub Connie Archer 2016 "Chef De Fer" of the soup course!

Seriously, what is more cozy than coming home after a day spent outdoors in winter (shoveling snow, hitting the slops, etc, etc) than to put your feet up on the couch while the wood fire warms your outsides and a nice bowl of soup warms your insides?  Not much, let me tell you!

I really love cozies where the main location is a small-town or rural restaurant (aka foodie haven) because they remind me of the little 'country store' up the road.  They're the kind of places where the regulars are SO regular that if someone doesn't show up one morning, they get a call or a visit from one of the other regulars.  They're the kind of places where you walk in and someone asks, "Did your father-in-law buy a new house, 'cause someone said ... " and you have to say, "I have no idea."  The grapevine works fast in small towns.  (I didn't even know he was looking for a new house!)

Then 'something happens'.  Big City Author and hangers-on come to town for a book signing.  Of course, 'nothing' is like it is in NYC.  Well, duh!  Soon the townfolk are rushing around with tight smiles, trying to see to the numerous wants of the visitors.  But then, the author is found dead in her room in the morning.  And another woman recently died in the same manner.  And that's too much of a coincidence in a small town --- or most anywhere for that matter.

And, a morning 'regular' at Lucky's has not been seen since the day the author came to town.  Is he dead?  Is he the culprit?  So the group decides to look for him.  That's another good thing about small towns.  They stick up for their own.  Then they get in danger and back off...but not all the way (do they ever?).  Do they find him?  Will he be allright?  If he did kill the author, what will they do?

Well, I hate spoilers and that's all (almost) I'm going to say about that.  There were numerous suspects, and truthfully, it did not look good for the friend.  I have to admit, I was surprised in the end.

This is the first book in this series that I have read - but that's not a problem, because it reads quite well as a standalone.  And it won't stop me from going back and picking up the other books.

Now, some soups are too hot.  Some soups are too cold.  Clue in the Stew is just right!

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MEET THE AUTHOR

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Connie Archer is the national bestselling author of the Soup Lover’s Mystery series from Penguin Random House (Berkley Prime Crime).  A Spoonful of MurderA Broth of Betrayal,A Roux of Revenge,Ladle to the Grave andA Clue in the Stew are all set in the imaginary village of Snowflake, Vermont.  Connie was born and raised in New England and now lives on the other coast.  You can visit her at Connie Archer Mysteries.

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GIVEAWAY!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*** I should also note there is a giveaway on Goodreads for this book, closing April 4.

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Click on the banner to go to the tour page, where you will find more reviews as well as guest posts and interviews with the author!  You can also sign up to be a blog host for future tours!

(Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book from the author and publishers via Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours in exchange for my honest review.  This post contains affiliate links.)

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This book helps me complete the following challenges:

2016 GoodReads Challenge

2016 52 Books in 52 Weeks

2016 New Authors Challenge