This is the second book in the Country Store series by Maddie Day. The series is set in fictional South Lick, IN which is in Brown County. It had been awhile since I read the first one so I wanted to get up to speed by the time the next one comes out in a couple of weeks.
My Goodreads review:
In anticipation of book 4 in this series, I decided to read this one and will follow up with the next one. I had read an excerpt the author provided and wanted to make sure I was completely up to date on the characters before reading the new one coming out this month.
I loved returning to South, Lick IN. It’s after Thanksgiving and people are starting to think about Christmas. One of the local girls, Erica, had returned home a few months ago so her parents threw a homecoming party at Robbie’s cafe and store. The guest of honor was not a well-liked person by anyone except her parents but quite a few people showed up for the food and festivities. Next morning, Robbie finds Erica dead by her pickle barrel.
Since there is no lack of suspects in this case, Robbie knows it will be a hard one to crack but she’s not too anxious to come face to face with another murderer. The state police are called in this time so Buck, the sheriff and sort of father figure to Robbie can’t really share all that he’d like to about the investigation so he just good-naturedly tells her to be careful and let the state people do their job.
Robbie and Jim’s relationship changes at this point but I won’t go into details. They still seem happy. Abe pitches in some more and something else is revealed about him as well.
This time I actually did guess the killer! But I credit the author for planting the right clues. It was still fun to read about the take down which was excellent. Let’s just say Robbie’s self-defense class came in handy!
Everyone gathered in the store to hear Robbie tell about it and the phone call she received was truly in the spirit of a Christmas wish coming true.
Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery 