Monday, July 27, 2020

Cozy Mystery Review ~ Mousse and Murder (Alaskan Diner Mystery, Book #1) by Elizabeth Logan @BerkleyMystery


Print Length: 302 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: May 5, 2020
Sold by: Penguin Group (USA) LLC
ASIN: B07WCZPZY7

A young chef might bite off more than she can chew when she returns to her Alaskan hometown to take over her parents' diner in this charming first installment in a new cozy mystery series set in an Alaskan tourist town.

When Chef Charlie Cooke is offered the chance to leave San Francisco and return home to Elkview, Alaska, to take over her mother's diner, she doesn't even consider saying no. After all--her love life has recently become a Love Life Crumble, and a chance to reconnect with her roots may be just what she needs.

Determined to bring fresh life and flavors to the Bear Claw Diner, Charlie starts planning changes to the menu, which has grown stale over the years. But her plans are fried when her head cook Oliver turns up dead after a bitter and public fight over Charlie's ideas--leaving Charlie as the only suspect in the case.

With her career, freedom, and life all on thin ice, Charlie must find out who the real killer is, before it's too late.


Charlie Cooke has just come home from California back to Alaska to take over running her mother's diner. She jumped on the opportunity to come home after a relationship disaster, hoping to find solace and strength in her hometown. She was not counting on butting heads with her mom's long-time head cook. Charlie wants to make changes and Oliver resists them every single time. There have been more than one heated argument between them since Charlie came home and took over. Their latest blow-up sent Oliver storming out of the diner. When the police show up in his stead, Charlie can't even believe it when they tell her Oliver has been found dead. His death is suspicious and now Charlie is the prime suspect. 

Mousse and Murder is a wonderful cozy mystery set in Alaska. The weather is cold but the arguments between Charlie and Oliver are heated. His death is a huge blow to the diner but it also brings to light several characters with means, motives, and opportunities to bump Oliver off. The path to discovering the real murderer is twisted and bumpy, leading Charlie in several directions that are dead-ends or just lead to more questions. Who actually was Oliver? Why did he end up in their Alaskan town, working for Charlie's mom? 

The book is full of surprises and twists in the plot the reader will never see coming. I was saddened during parts of the reveal for reasons you'll have to read the book to find out. No spoilers here. The author does a great job with the mystery, the character development, and providing the reader vivid imagery allowing the story to played out like a movie as you read along. The book also has some pretty amazing characters, ones I will definite enjoy learning more about in the next installment of the series.

I was provided a copy of this book to read.


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