I tried not to look down the mouth of hell staring back at me from inside the glaringly pristine outer ceramic shell of the white throne, my throat catching, stomach doing half flips and a rather impressive rollover routine that would have gotten at least a 9.5 even from the Russian judges. Instead, I forced myself to smile and swallow and remind myself the elbow length yellow rubber gloves grasping the handle of the standard issue plunger were all that stood between me and Pooageddon.
Suck it up, Fee. Big girl panties and adulting and all that.
“At what point,” I waved the dripping plunger, wincing as droplets of yuck flew, “did I think owning a bed and breakfast was going to be glamorous and romantic?”
Fiona Fleming hasn’t lived in Reading, Vermont in over a decade, her escape from small town living leading her to New York City and a life of adventure. An adventure that has left her with no career, an ex who cheated on her and zero plans for the future. Her grandmother’s death grants her a new chance–inheriting Petunia’s, Iris Fleming’s bed and breakfast, seems like the ideal fresh start. But when Fee finds out ownership of the property Iris willed her might be in question, she’s drawn into the seedy underbelly of the cutest town in America after being singled out as the main suspect in a murder.
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MY REVIEW
Fiona is my snarky idol! She's definitely going on my top ten countdown of snarky, edgy cozy heroines. And she has added to my vocabulary. Pooageddon and boobage are going on my list of favorite words.
But Fiona has earned her stripes. Not only has her grandmother passed, but the inn has some holdover older employees who are cold to Fiona, plunging toilets is not their job (thank you very much). Her 'good life' in NYC crashed when her boyfriend turned her in on a younger, fitter model. Oh, and lest I forget, there's a dead guy in the inn's garden. Looks a little suspicious, especially since said dead guy had just the day before come in and told Fiona that her grandmother had willed him Petunia's!
Apparently Reading, Vermont is not quite the Normal Rockwell scene depicted on the travel brochure. Maybe it's the 'Dorian Grey' of small towns. There are a lot of secrets and back-room deals going on, and while trying to clear herself, Fiona tracks down most of them. And, go figure, some folks are not eager to have those secrets revealed. The penchant for investigation runs in the family...and that's all I'm going to say about that.
There are 3 installments in the "Fiona Fleming Mysteries" (so far....um, *hint* *hint*) and Bed and Breakfast and Murder is the first. Ms. Larsen has given us a heroine that can go the distance...and then some. The action is well-paced, holding my interest the entire way through. Well done!
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MEET THE AUTHOR
Patti Larsen is an award-winning author with a passion for the voices in her head. Now with over 80 titles in happy publication, she lives on the East coast with her patient husband and multitude of pets.
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GIVEAWAY!!!
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Click on the banner to go to the tour page, where you will find links to more reviews of Bed and Breakfast and Murder by Patti Larsen. You can also find out how to become a blog host for future book tours while you are there.
(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.)
Thank you so much for having me today. And for the lovely review! :D I love Fee's interesting vocabulary LOL Happy May 1st!
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